Dog Prince
by gkinuwriter
Summary: InuKag,MirSan:Inuyasha was slightly ready to take the crown.But was turned into a dog by an evil wizard,Naraku.He ends up taking in a priestess girl,Kagome.She holds the key to destroy Naraku.Can Inu regain his form,reach his kingdom&destroy Naraku?
1. naraku's revenge

Hey guys I'm back with another cool new story that I wanted to share with you guys! Now how I thought of this story was really weird. You see after finishing up my first one-shot I wanted to do another one but this time with Kagome and Inuyasha being actual dogs or something. But while figuring out the one-shot the one-shot suddenly formed into this story. Which right now I'm glad I did because I think this is the best idea I have had that is somewhat original. Anyway let's get to the story before I bore you to death with my weird babbling.

**Dog Prince**

**Summary: **_Prince Inuyasha was almost ready to take on the kingdom in his father's place. But one day an evil wizard named Naraku kidnaps him and turns Inuyasha into a dog! Literally! Inuyasha gets injured and he ends up waking up in the care of a female named Kagome who treats his wounds. He ends up having her follow him after a band of demons burns down her home and they go off on a journey to Inuyasha's castle to reclaim his place at his kingdom. Will Inuyasha be able to reach his palace, regain his true form and defeat Naraku? Could the girl Kagome have the key to destroying Naraku? InuKag and slight MirSan._

**Chapter 1: Naraku's Revenge**

Lord Inutashio was sitting on his thrown with his wife, Izayoi, sitting in the thrown next to him while holding their newborn son, Inuyasha. While Inutashio's eldest son, Sesshoumaru, stood on the other side of him.

The doors banded open allowing two of the castle guards to walk in dragging in someone with them.

"Let me go you fucking bastards!" Ordered a man as he glared at the soldiers while struggling to get free. However, the man was still weak from fighting of Inutashio's soldiers when they ambushed him at his home on the outskirts of the town. The man was tall almost about the same height as Inutashio, had long messy black hair that reached the top of his bottom. He had dark red eyes and was wearing beggar clothes and his hands were tied behind his back.

The soldiers ignored his demands and shoved him onto the floor right in front of Inutashio and his family.

The man growled at them.

"So we finally caught you…Naraku." Inutashio snarled out narrowing his eyes, "And here you thought we wouldn't catch?"  
Naraku glared at him and shouted, "Why the hell did you even attack me!? I'm nothing but a simple beggar! What, do you have something against beggars!?"  
"No, but it's beggars who murder people is was gets to me!" Inutashio growled out, "But I have also heard from a few witnesses that you have also been studying wizardry?"  
Naraku just glared, "And what may I ask is wrong with that? Many people do it. Heck even your own soldiers do it if I'm not mistaken!"  
"Usually I wouldn't mind people studying it. But I mind when they murder innocent people in order to gain it!" Inutashio said as he went from a growl to a shout.

Izayoi narrowed her eyes, "You are such a sick man Naraku. I can't believe you would actually do something as sick as that!"

Inutashio turned his gaze from his wife and glared at Naraku and shouted, "What kind of wizardry are you studying that would need sacrifices!?"  
Naraku growled out loudly, "That's none of your business you asshole!"  
Suddenly Naraku was whacked from the back of his head.

"Don't you dare talk to Lord Inutashio like that!" Scolded a soldier as they whacked Naraku all over his body with clubs.

"So him some respect you murderous demon!" Another yelled.

"Listen Naraku."

Naraku snarled as he glanced up at Inutashio who narrowed his eyes, "I let you live in my town because I felt bad for you because you didn't have any money. So I gave you a place to stay and how to repay me!? By killing my people!"

Inutashio growled out, "And I will not forgive you for that!" He then stood up, "So as punishment for what you did to those people I sentence you to death!"

Naraku growled and glared at the soldiers as they moved towards him, "I don't think so!" He growled out as he quickly spun his leg around and tripped the soldiers and quickly stood up and jumped back just as Inutashio's sword sliced into the floor where he once sat.

Izayoi gasped as she stood up gripping onto Inuyasha tightly while Sesshoumaru grunted.

Naraku roared, "If you really think you can kill me Inutashio!" He narrowed his eyes, "Then you are more foolish than I thought! You can't kill me!"

Inutashio growled and charged towards him swinging out his sword, "We'll see about that!"  
He swung his sword just as Naraku jumped up and did a back-flip making the sword cut his ropes that tied his hands together and freeing them.

Inutashio quickly spun around just as Naraku landed on the ground and sliced his hand off.

"AHHHHHH!" Naraku yelled out in pain now looking down at his missing hand. He growled as he glared back at Inutashio.

"Now…" Inutashio ran towards him yelling, "You're head is next!"  
Naraku now fearing his life yelled out as he used his free hand aimed it to the ground and shot some purple smoke out of his hand.

Inutashio quickly jumped back placing his hand over his mouth as the smoke spread, "Is that poison!?"  
Izayoi gasped and suddenly heard Inuyasha starting to cry. She looked down at him and started to bounce him a bit to calm him down.

"It's all right little one. Shhhh please don't cry." She soothed.

"It's the smoke." Sesshoumaru suddenly said as he stood next to his step-mother while holding his hand on his nose to cover it, "It's probably getting to Inuyasha."  
"I will put up a shield!" A soldier that looked more like a monk shouted as he stepped in front of Izayoi and sons and said a few words and a shield circled around the monk and Izayoi, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.

Inutashio grunted while covering his nose as he watched the purple smoke disappear.

"One day Lord Inutashio. It may not be tomorrow or the day after that. But one day I will have my revenge and you will be the one that is sentence to death!" Naraku roared out.

"Damn you Naraku!" Inutashio shouted, he looked towards his soldiers, "Don't just stand there! Go and find him now!"  
The soldiers flinched and quickly ran out of his thrown room and out of the castle to look for Naraku.

Inutashio growled as he ran up towards Izayoi and his sons, his asked softly, "Are you guys okay?"

Izayoi nodded, "Yes." She looked towards the monk, "And I deeply appreciate you protecting us."  
The monk nodded with a smirk, "It was the least I could do."

Inutashio brushed his hand on Inuyasha's cheeks as he whimpered, "Is Inuyasha going to be okay?"

"Dad he's only whimpering because he probably doesn't like the smell of that smoke that Naraku threw out." Sesshoumaru pointed out as he walked up next to him and crossed his arms, "So I'm sure he'll be okay."

Inutashio sighed turning his attention from Sesshoumaru to Izayoi, "But take him to the housewife and make sure he's okay."  
Izayoi nodded, "Yes my lord." She tilted her head signaling Sesshoumaru to follow.

He nodded as he followed her out of the thrown room.

Inutashio turned his gaze towards the monk as he heard him sigh, "Looks like we have a situation on our hands."  
"Don't worry. We'll find Naraku and kill him." Inutashio reassured, "It won't be that hard to track him down."  
The monk only sighed, "I hope you are right my lord."

* * *

**-20 years later-**

"Lord Inutashio!" Called out the messenger as he ran into Inutashio chamber.

Inutashio looked up, "Yes what is it?"

"I have come with a message from your son Sesshoumaru from the northern lands saying him and his wife Rin are going to come to visit and should be here in a few days." The messenger reported bowing his head in respect.

"Did he say anything else? Like maybe if they found any clues leading to where Naraku might be?" Inutashio asked.

The messenger shook his head, "No according to your son they are still looking but have found nothing."  
Inutashio sighed and waved his hand ushering him to go, "Thanks for the message tell the rest of the castle to get ready for their arrival."

The messenger nodded and bowed before walking out the doors and down the halls.

Inutashio let out a frustrated yell, "ARGH!" He slammed his fist into his desk, "Damn it! Why can't we find him?"

"Still frustrated I see."  
"Mm?" Inutashio hummed as he looked up towards the door as Izayoi walked into his chamber with a smile on her face, "Oh Izayoi."

She sat in the chair in front of him, "So Sesshoumaru still couldn't find any clues to Naraku's whereabouts?"

Inutashio sighed, "Yes neither him nor I have found any clues." He then yelled, "And it's been 20 freaking years since Naraku escaped us and we haven't even found one thing not even his scent!"  
Izayoi sighed, "Yeah that is a bit frustrating not being able to find that murder." She then smiled, "But don't let it get to your head and forget about things that are important."

Inutashio stared at as she continued, "Like setting up the date for Inuyasha's ceremony to become king. He is 20 now and isn't that usually the age when they can become king? I mean that's also the age when Sesshoumaru became king."

"Yeah but he was marrying Princess Rin from the northern lands." Inutashio pointed out, "But I guess you are right. It's almost time for Inuyasha to take the crown."  
Izayoi tilted her head, "Does Inuyasha have to marry in order to become king?"  
Inutashio shook his head, "It would be nice. But it's not a requirement." He arched a brow, "Speaking of Inuyasha? Where is the boy?"  
Izayoi smiled, "Oh he's out in the fields training with Miroku and Sango like he usually does."

* * *

"HA! HA!" Inuyasha yelled out as he clashed his sword with Miroku's monk staff.

Inuyasha was wearing a red kimono top with black armor on it, black pants, and black boots that went over his pants. Miroku was wearing a normal traditional monk robe. Miroku is Inuyasha's best friend and his advisor, though sometimes it doesn't seem like it. He is also the son of the monk that protected Izayoi and the inu boys from Naraku's poison. So Miroku and his family have lived in the castle since that incident.

Miroku smirked and ducked down as Inuyasha swung his sword over Miroku's head. Miroku then spun his leg around and almost tripped Inuyasha onto the ground. But Inuyasha did a quick hand flip and was back standing on the ground.

"Heh not bad Lord Inuyasha." Miroku complemented as he stood a few feet in front of Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smirked, "Keh! You haven't seen nothing yet!" He charged towards Miroku with his sword hung over his shoulder.

His ears suddenly twitched when he heard something flying towards him. In a split second he jumped back as a huge boomerang slammed into the ground right in front of him.

Inuyasha swung his sword forward just as another sword clashed into his.

He smirked at the girl that stood before him, "Sorry Sango. But you won't be able to catch me off guard."

Sango was wearing her normal demon slayer suit. She came to the castle with her little brother Kohaku when she was about 18 looking for work after their mother and father were killed by a bunch of demons that they were told to slay. So Inutashio and Izayoi took them in as their own. So Sango had become the first woman to be a soldier in Inutashio's army because of her massive skills at fighting and Kohaku helps Izayoi out around the castle.  
Sango smirked, "Heh we'll just see about that!" A hidden dagger sliced out of the arm of her suit.

Inuyasha jumped back making the dagger only cut his arm, "Heh not bad Sango." He charged towards her again, "But you're going to have to do better than that!" He swung his sword ready for an attack when his ears twitched again and quickly jumped back right when Miroku's staff was about to whack him on the head.

"Damn he's just too fast." Miroku said to Sango as he stood next to her.

Inuyasha smirked, "Heh!" He leaned his sword on his shoulder, "I'm sure you guys can catch if you work on _**your **_speed a little more."

Miroku rolled his eyes, "Even if we do you'll just end up getting faster."

Inuyasha shrugged, "Hey it was only a suggestion. It would be a bit more helpful if you guys were a bit faster."  
Sango grumbled, "Hey we are faster than most humans. So you can at least give us that much credit."  
"Yeah." Miroku replied closing his eyes.

"EHHH!?" Sango yelped out as her cheeks became red as Miroku's hand caressed her bottom.

"We are doing the best we can for humans." Miroku said.

Sango began growling as she shook her fist, "Will you…STOP THAT!"  
**SLAP**

Inuyasha stared at them blankly as he watched Miroku chuckle lightly while rubbing his now red cheek.

"I'm sorry Lady Sango. My hand seems to be cursed." Miroku replied smiling at her.

Sango grumbled as she crossed her arms as she glared at him, "Do you really expect me to believe that you pervert?"  
Inuyasha just sighed as he shook his head, "When will you learn monk?"  
"Well I see you guys are having fun."  
"Mm?" Inuyasha mumbled as he looked towards the castle to see Inutashio and Izayoi walking over towards them.

"Oh hey guys." Inuyasha replied turning to face them, "What are you guys doing out here?"  
Izayoi smiled, "Oh we just figured to come out here and see how you kids are doing with your training."

"And I must say you kids are getting better." Inutashio pointed out while crossing his arms.

Miroku smiled as he bowed his head in respects, "Glad you think so my lord."  
Sango smiled, "Yeah it's so worth it when you actually get praise for your improvements."  
Inuyasha turned his gaze from his friends to his parents, "Is that really all you came out here for?" He tilted his head, "Or is there something else?"

Inutashio sighed and began rubbing the back of his head, "Yes, we do have another reason."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he sheathed his sword, "Figured you had another reason for being out here." He crossed his arms, "So what's the deal this time?"  
"We need to talk to you." Inutashio looked at Miroku and Sango, "Alone."  
Miroku and Sango's eyes went wide and nodded.

"Well I have to go check on Kohaku anyway, since he is still getting over the flu." Sango pointed out while sheathing her sword and picked up her boomerang and walked towards the castle.

Miroku sighed, "I guess I should probably check in on my father to see if there's any extermination to be done in the village." He picked up his staff and followed Sango to the castle and smiled back at Inuyasha and waved, "Good luck my friend!"

Inuyasha grumbled as he watched his friends leave, "Gee thanks."

He looked at his parents and sighed, "Okay why am I getting the feeling that I'm not going to like this conversation?"  
Inutashio rolled his eyes, "It isn't that bad." He looked at his son, "We just came to tell you that since you are now 20 it's almost time for you to become king."  
"Really?" Inuyasha replied raising a brow.

Inutashio nodded, "Yep, since your older brother Sesshoumaru became king at 20 I figured it'll be the same for you."  
"But I thought Sesshoumaru only became king because he was marrying Rin?" Inuyasha asked and then gaped as he jerked his head back, "Oh no! Please don't tell me I'm going to have to get married in order to get the crown!?"  
Izayoi laughed, "No Inuyasha. Though you getting married would be nice, but it's not a requirement to be king."

Inuyasha sighed in relief, "Thank god. I did not want to have to deal with all of that princess drama that most princes have to go through in order to be king."  
"Yeah figured you wouldn't like that very much." Inutashio sighed out while rolling his eyes.

Inuyasha shifted his position a bit, "So…when will I get the crown?"

"Well I figured since Sesshoumaru and Rin are going to be visiting in a few days that maybe we can have the ceremony during the time they are here." Inutashio replied.

"Whoa…that soon." Inuyasha said softly quite shocked that it would be that soon.

Inutashio nodded, "We should do this while everything is all peaceful and quiet." He narrowed his eyes, "Since who knows when Naraku will attack us."  
Inuyasha gulped. Sure he understood why his father was doing it so early but still…this was happening way too fast for his liking.

"So we'll start making preparations for the ceremony and for Sesshoumaru and Rin's arrival." Inutashio tilted his head, "So you better get yourself prepared as well."  
Inuyasha only nodded not really responding.

Inutashio nodded and turned to walk back into the castle. Izayoi stared at her husband before turning her eyes to her son who stared at the ground.

"Inuyasha?" She said softly getting his attention, "Are you sure the date is okay with you? I mean if you don't want it that soon I'm sure I can convince-"

"No it's okay." Inuyasha said shaking his head and narrowed his eyes, "I'm fine with it. Why would you ask to change the date? The faster I become a king the better."

Izayoi opened her mouth to reply but stopped when Inuyasha walked past her.

"Don't worry mother I'll be fine." Inuyasha reassured her.

Izayoi sighed as she watched him walk away, '_You may say you'll be fine. But even I can tell that this is scaring you…Inuyasha._'

* * *

Inuyasha sighed as he sat on his opened window in his room looking out over the trees and mountains, '_I can't believe how fast this is going. I mean I knew I would have this ceremony soon or later but…in just a few days._' He frowned, '_Am I really ready to take on being the king?_'

"Hey Lord Inuyasha."  
"Mm?" Inuyasha mumbled glancing over towards his door as Miroku and Sango walked in, "Oh…" He looked back out the window, "Hey guys. What's going on?"

"We heard that you are going to become king in a couple of days." Sango pointed out softly tilting her head.

Inuyasha sighed, "I'm guessing my father or mother told you?"

Miroku and Sango nodded.

"Yes your mother did." Miroku replied softly, "This is really a great honor."

"Yeah this is also what you have been waiting for practically your whole life." Sango replied with a warm smile.

"Yeah I have." Inuyasha said softly, "And I really can't wait."

Miroku tilted his head and sighed, "Though it is also okay to be a little scared."  
Inuyasha flinched and glared at Miroku with his cheeks turning a light pink, "I am not scared!"  
"Okay so you're nervous. That is a natural feeling." Miroku corrected.

Inuyasha growled as he stood up clenching his fists, "I am not nervous either!"  
Sango rolled her eyes, "Listen we are just saying even if you aren't scared or nervous that this is a really big thing, which is happening really fast." She tilted her head, "And we all know you weren't really expecting it to go that fast either."

"So if you think it is going too fast I think you should tell your father before he permanently sets the date." Miroku advised knowing his friend was intend scared about taking the crown. Though no one could really blame him. Becoming king met you were in charge of everything, like taking care of the village and it's matters, taking care of villains making sure everyone in the palace and in the village are safe. There was a lot to take on and no one can truly be ready for it.  
"Hey dad wants to do the ceremony while Naraku is still in hiding. I'm perfectly fine with that." Inuyasha pointed out crossing his arms.

Sango let out a frustrated sigh while crossing her arms, "Lord Inuyasha." She stared at him, "Just how dumb do you think we are?"  
Inuyasha slightly flinched as she continued, "We know you are scared. Whether you admit it openly or not."  
Miroku nodded opening his eyes to look at Inuyasha, "I agree. Sure you may have thought it was exciting to be king when we were growing up. But you have now seen all the duties your father as done and it's a lot of stuff. Heck I think I would be scared too if I were you."

Inuyasha grunted while narrowing his eyes, "Listen you two. I don't know where you get the idea that I'm scared because I'm not! So deal with it and drop the subject now and leave!"

Sango growled narrowing her eyes and opened her mouth to argue when she felt Miroku's hand grip onto her shoulders.

She looked up at him, "Lord Miroku?"

Miroku sighed, "Okay Lord Inuyasha we'll leave."

"What!? Lord Miroku we can't-"

Miroku looked at her, "Lady Sango I think it would be best if we just leave Lord Inuyasha and let him think. If he doesn't want to talk about it then we'll just have to respect that wish."

Sango grunted as she nodded.

Miroku smiled and bowed his head at Inuyasha, "Sorry to have disturbed you Lord Inuyasha."  
Inuyasha growled softly, "Will you cut that "lord" crap out and stop bowing your head like that! I will not have **_my_** friends act that way around me."

Miroku nodded, "As you wish." He then sighed as he looked down at Sango, "Well my dear I think we should go back down to the kitchen and see if my mother needs any help with anything."  
Sango's cheeks turned a slight pink and nodding her head slightly, "Uh...sure."  
Miroku smiled and looked at Inuyasha with a smile, "See you are dinner then Lor- ah I mean Inuyasha."  
Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah sure thing."

Sango and Miroku nodded their heads as they walked out of the door.

Inuyasha sighed as he sat back down on the window and grumbled with his arms still crossed and narrowed his eyes, '_I am not scared! I am freaking happy that I'm finally becoming king! Where the hell did they get the idea that I was scared of something that I have wanted since I was 7!?_' He looked out the window, "I'm the fearless Inuyasha! I don't get scared of nothing! The only thing I find scary is Sesshoumaru's face and that's it!"  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
Inuyasha jerked while his ears twitched as he heard a young girl scream.

He arched a brow, "A girl?" He jumped out of his window and towards the woods where he heard the scream, "What would a girl be doing out here at this time of the evening?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His ears twitched as he heard the scream again.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, "But I'll worry about that later once I safe her!" He jumped from tree to tree following the scream.

He made it just to see the girl get grabbed by a large demon the demon noticed Inuyasha and began leaping away further into the woods with the girl still screaming on his shoulder.

Inuyasha growled narrowing his eyes, "Does he honestly think he can out run me!?" He then sped up, "Well he's going to have to do better than that to lose me!"  
But what Inuyasha didn't realize that the demon was purposely dragging him far away from his castle.

Inuyasha slightly noticed but he didn't care. Right now his mind was set on saving the girl.

Inuyasha started to growl in annoyance after a few hours of chasing the demon, "Okay…" He unsheathed his sword and yelled out, "Stop running!" He sliced the back of the demon making it yelp and collapse on the ground knocking the girl off of his shoulder face down.

The demon growled as he looked over his shoulder as Inuyasha landed on the ground holding his sword out in front of him.

Inuyasha growled, "Time to die demon!"

The demon stood up and charged towards Inuyasha with his claws held out. Inuyasha grunted and quickly jumped in the air as the demon slammed his claw into the dirt making dirt fly up.

Inuyasha had jumped behind the demon and used his sword to slice his back again making the demon yell out.

The demon spun around and managed to claw Inuyasha's side as Inuyasha quickly jumped to the side.

He winced and landed on the ground and held his side, '_Damn!_' The demon turned to face him.

Inuyasha growled and charged him, "You will regret that!" He then slammed his sword on the ground, "Wind Scar!"  
The demon yelled as the beams hit him slicing him into pieces.

Inuyasha sighed as he sheathed his sword, "Well that takes care of him." He looked behind him towards the girl who still hasn't moved a muscle since she landed on the ground.

'_Is she dead or something?_' He wondered as he walked up and knelt down next to her, "Hey girl? You okay?"  
"Y-Yes." The girl said as she slowly got up, "I'm alright."  
Inuyasha's nose wrinkled, '_Damn this girl smells horrible! When was the last time she had a bath!?_' He sighed as he held out his hand, "Here let me take you back to my castle so we can take care of you."  
"Thank you so much." The girl said as she grabbed his hand.

Once she grabbed his hand she started to laugh, "You fool."

"Huh?" Inuyasha replied raising a brow. The girl gripped tighter on his hand as red lightening bolts came out of her hand and onto his.

"AHHHHH!" Inuyasha yelped as the shocks made him fly backwards slamming his back into a trunk of a tree.

He winced as he started to rub his back.

"Heh you are so gullible just like your father."

Inuyasha growled as he turned his attention at the girl who started to glow a dark red changing her form from a girl to a man.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide when he saw Naraku standing there with an evil smile.

"You are so sentimental like your father that you did not see that this was all a trap." Naraku said tilting his head slightly.

Inuyasha growled as he stood up, "You bastard!" He shouted as he unsheathed his sword again and was going to slice him. But his sword slammed into a red barrier making him fly backwards and hit the tree again.

Inuyasha groaned closing his eyes in pain before opening them to glare at Naraku who laughed.

"Do you really think a hanyou like yourself can defeat me? The powerful wizard Naraku." Naraku laughed out.

"Naraku!?" Inuyasha shouted as he stood up, "You…you're the Naraku that my father and my brother have been searching all this time for?!"  
"Wow I must really be famous back here." Naraku replied sarcastically, "That makes me so happy. Now I can return to the village and not have to introduce myself."  
Inuyasha snarled and charged towards him, "Don't go thinking you will defeat me so easily!" '_I have to kill him! If I kill him, dad will pull the ceremony back a bit giving me some more time to just be a prince for a while._'

Inuyasha swung his sword but Naraku only chuckled as he jumped in the air making Inuyasha slice air.

Inuyasha turned around and was going to slice Naraku in half when Naraku held up his hands and slammed them into Inuyasha gut and shocked his stomach.

"AHHHHH!" Inuyasha yelled out as he was pushed back by the force of Naraku's shocks slamming into another tree making him drop his sword.

Inuyasha winced out loudly as he kneeled on his knees and wrapped his arm around his stomach.

"Now it's time for the final touch." Inuyasha growled as he narrowed his eyes as he turned to glare at Naraku.

Naraku held up his hand in front of his face and held up two fingers and his soon started to glow a dark red again as he narrowed his eyes, "Goata chuta sumta dotra."

Inuyasha raised a brow, '_What the crap is he saying?_'

**BUMP-BUMP**

Inuyasha gasped as his eyes went wide as he felt his body starting to pound.

"Gotra suma titra chura." Naraku continued to chant.

As Naraku chanted his words Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut while feeling the wind blow harshly as he felt his stomach starting to turn like he was going to throw up. He dug his claws into the ground as his hand started to transform into a paw.

"Gora totra kora sumra rota elroa."

Inuyasha's skin started to turn white like his hair and furry. His ears transformed from perky pointy ones to long and floppy like a golden retriever's ears. His mouth and nose started to stretch out into a long nose like a dog's and his legs and arms transformed into actual doglegs and out of the top of his butt grew a tail.

"Ruamotra gramona hotro shoTA!" Naraku shouted out his last word, which made Inuyasha yell which soon turned into a howl.

Once the pain subsided Inuyasha opened on of his eyes and they went wide once he saw paws instead of hands.

'_WHAT!?_' He moved his body around to get a better look and make sure he wasn't just imagining things. He was now a dog the size and height of a Great Dane but at the looks of a golden retriever.

Inuyasha shook his head closing his eyes tight, '_This is just a dream. I-It's not real._' He opened one eye to look down to hopefully find his normal clawed hand but still saw a paw.

'_AHHHHHHHHHH!_' He yelled in his head but howled on the outside.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha."

Inuyasha growled as he turned to glare at Naraku.

"This form suits you well _**Prince **_Inuyasha or should I call you Dog Prince." Naraku laughed out.

Inuyasha growled and charged towards him and barked, '_I'm going to kill you!_'

Inuyasha made the move to claw Naraku with his pawed claws. Naraku only grunted as he grabbed Inuyasha's wrist and out of his hand came more red lightening bolts.

'_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_' Inuyasha howled closing one eye.

"Heh." Naraku smirked and tossed Inuyasha across the clearing that they were in and Inuyasha's backside was slammed against a tree trunk and fell on the ground.

Inuyasha twitched as he started to stand up but stumbled a bit as he finally made it on all fours.

He growled again as he looked at Naraku who now had demons flying and coming up behind him.

"Now it's time to finish the first part of my revenge." Naraku snarled out and waved his hand towards Inuyasha.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he growled, since that was really the only thing he could do…or say for that matter.

"Kill him." Naraku instructed his demons.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he heard the demons chuckle. He quickly scrambled and ran further into the woods as the demons chased after him.

Naraku smirked and looked at Inuyasha's sword, which had transformed back into a normal rusty sword.

He walked over towards the sword picked it up and chuckled, "This will be my ticket inside Lord Inutashio's castle." Naraku looked over his shoulder down the path that Inuyasha ran down, "Yes run Inuyasha. Run as far as you can and when the time comes I will call upon you agaub and you…" He smirked, "Will become my servant maybe a watch dog once I take care of that precious family yours'."  
Naraku grunted and started to walk down the path that led towards the palace, "But right now I need you out of the way."

* * *

Inuyasha panted as he ran away from the demons, '_How far have I ran? Man it feels like I have been running for miles._' He narrowed his eyes as he still heard the demons chasing after him, knocking down trees and their stomping, '_Damn it all! If it wasn't for that bastard Naraku turning me into a damn dog I would have totally destroyed these demons by now!_'

His ears perked up when he heard something flying at him at full speed. Inuyasha jumped out of the way just as a huge beam flew past him and sliced a tree knocking it down in front of him.

Inuyasha jumped over it and suddenly something dug up from the ground and stabbed him right in his stomach.

'_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_' Inuyasha howled in pain as he collapsed on the ground, he groaned as he started to stand back up while hesitating, '_Come on! Don't give out on me!_'

At that moment something came up from behind him and bit him in the leg.

Inuyasha howled again as the demon fly up in the sky with Inuyasha's leg in it's mouth. Inuyasha growled and narrowed his eyes as he used his other paw to claw the demon across the face making the demon let go. Inuyasha landed on his feet on the ground but collapse in pain.

'_D-Damn it!_' Inuyasha grumbled opening his eyes to see the demons slowly approaching him.

He growled as he tried to stand up again, '_Come on! Just…just a little longer. I will not die like this!_'

The demons laughed.

"Say goodbye…hanyou." One of the demons growled out as it smirked at him.

Inuyasha growled and made the motion to charge them when an arrow that glowed a bright purple light flew from the side of the demons and shot the demon that said goodbye to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide along with the demons.

They looked to the side as a young woman with mid-length raven black hair and beautiful chocolate brown eyes came out from the shadows.

"Get out of my territory you demons!" She shouted narrowing her eyes aiming another arrow at the demons. The woman was wearing a blue kimono that was one inch above the knees that showed her skinny form. She had bruises and scars over her body and she had no shoes. She also had a blue jewel medallion around her neck.

"What!?" One of the demons shouted, "How could that little girl take down a demon!?"  
Inuyasha stared at her though his vision started to blur, '_Where…the hell did she come from?_'

She continued to glare at the demons, "I'm warning you get out of here while you still can."  
"Oh? And what will you do if we don't?" A demon mocked narrowing his eyes at her.

"I'll kill you!" She yelled aiming her arrow at him.

The demons looked at each other before laughing.

"Oh that is just great!" A demon laughed out.  
"Yeah I little puny sized girl is going to kill…hehe…all of us. How rich is that?"  
Inuyasha growled softly as sweat started to drip down his face while staring at the girl, '_No…idiot…get out of here._' He motioned to go towards her but his body gave out and collapsed back on the ground, '_Damn it girl! Run!_'

The girl noticed him collapsing and snarled and glared back at the demons, "I'll show you!" She released her arrow, which was engulfed in a huge bright purple light.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide, '_That light…what is that light?_'

One of the demons grunted and waved his arm to slice it in half but only to have his arm get disintegrated by the arrow, "AHHHHH!" The demon yelled and screamed out in pain when the arrow flew into his chest making his whole body disintegrate.

The remaining demons gasped as they watched their companion die right before their eyes and by a stupid little arrow.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide.

The demons looked at the girl.

"How could that young girl produce such power?" A pig demon gaped out as he hesitated, his eyes went wide, '_Could…could it be that she is…_'

The girl placed another arrow in her bow.

"A priestess?" The pig demon wondered out loud, '_But how can this be? How can this priestess produce this much power?_'

"Who wants to die next!?" The girl yelled out aiming her arrow at them.

The demons growled and charged towards her, "Girl you're dead!"  
Inuyasha gasped and tried to stand up but fell back down and noticed that the girl wasn't running away, '_No! Run idiot!_'

Once the demons were close enough the girl released her arrow and killed one line of demons and quickly placed another arrow into her bow and released aimed towards another line of demons and destroyed them as well.

Inuyasha watched in amazement, '_Whoa…what is that girl?_'

The remaining demons, except the pig demon, growled as they charged towards her.

"You will regret that!" They shouted.

The girl placed her bow back on her shoulder and held up her hands and the blue jewel started to glow, which helped her, put up a barrier around her. The demons crashed into it shocking them making most of them disintegrate while some of them were just knocked back.

The girl began panting, '_Damn. I'm using too much energy. I need to end this fast._' She narrowed her eyes as she held out her bow and placed an arrow in the bow and aimed it at the remaining demons, "Had enough yet demons!?"  
The demons growled and made the move to attack her again.

"NO! We must retreat!"

"Huh!?" The demons replied loudly as they looked over towards the pig demon.

He looked at them with fear, "We need to retreat!" He then turned to run away, "Retreat!!!"  
The demons sweat dropped.

The girl slightly tipped as the pig retreated, '_Well there goes one._'

Inuyasha grumbled, '_What a coward._' He glanced toward the girl, ' _Well that takes care of one but…can she handle the rest of them?_' He grunted as his eyelids started to become heavy, '_No…I must…stay awake. I must...make sure this girl...makes it out okay_'

"Ah who needs that stinking pig anyway." A badger demon snarled out.

"Yeah." A frog demon replied glaring towards the girl, "We can handle this girl. There's no need to retreat."

All the remaining demons nodded in agreement. They then charged towards the girl again and their full speeds.

"AHHHHH!" They yelled as they ran towards her.

The girl narrowed her eyes as she aimed the arrow towards them concentrated all of her energy into the arrow. The blue jewel started to glow again combining its power with hers'. As the demons got closer to her, her eyes went wide as she released the arrow that was embraced with the girl's bright purple light with a mixture of the jewel's blue light.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he watched the arrow fly towards a demon destroying him. It continued to fly and the light of the arrow spread making every demon that the light touched disintegrate. The demons yelled as they disappeared.

'_How the hell…did she manage to destroy them all with that one arrow? I mean I know she produced that purple light but…how did she produce that blue one?_' Inuyasha wondered in shock.

The girl sighed as she fell to her knees. Inuyasha jerked when he saw her fall to her knees.

She panted, "Finally. That's over." She held onto her blue jewel, '_Thank you for helping me._'

The girl looked over towards the white dog. She stood up and walked over towards him.

Inuyasha wanted to back up but his body wouldn't move it was weak to move. Usually with these injuries he would have been able to move at least a little bit. But thanks to that transformation it made his body ten times weaker than usual.

The girl sighed as she knelt down in front of him and moved her hand towards his face.

Inuyasha closed his eyes expecting a blow or something but all he got was a gentle brush on his new fur and he heard her softly say, "You poor thing. Those demons really did a number on you."  
Inuyasha's ears twitched as he opened his eyes weakly to find himself face to face with the girl. But his vision started to become weak but before he completely blacked out he saw her smile and say, "Don't worry you're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Sooo what did you guys think of my new story? I thought it was pretty good overall. The main plot is still in thinking mode but hopefully I will get it more straightened out once I get more chapters up. Yeah I know I'm seriously going to die with all this stories I'm putting up but…I just want to get these new ideas out before somebody comes up and takes them from right under my nose. Since I'm trying so hard to come up with some original stuff here that hasn't been done. But I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope you stay tuned for the next chapters to come.

See ya next time!

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	2. priestess girl kagome

Hey guys, man I am so sorry for not updating any of my stories in the past 2-3 weeks. Really I was only expecting to be gone one week to visit some of my relatives. But unexpectedly my aunt from Virginia called my mom and told us that her husband died 2-3 weeks ago. So my mom, dad and some of my aunts and uncles were figuring out how to get there for the funeral and all. So they drove there while I stayed with my cousins so I could help baby-sit them. So again I am so sorry, especially for those who are reading **Finding Your Voice and Keeping it **since I know you guys are waiting to find out what happens. But anyway I explained myself and now let's move on to the chapter.

**Chapter 2: Priestess Girl, Kagome**

Naraku approached the huge walls that would open up to the castle that was behind it allowing him to enter. But how was he going to get in you ask? Well he has Inuyasha's sword and…he had disguise himself as a young woman and he made sure to hide his scent since he realized he accidentally let out his scent when he was dealing with Inuyasha.

He smirked when he noticed the two guards jerk after noticing him since they were chit chattering about something.

"Excuse me miss?" The guard ordered strictly getting Naraku to meet his eyes, the guard narrowed them, "What business do you have here?"  
"Oh excuse my rudeness I was just passing through wondering…" Naraku held out Inuyasha's sword, "Whom this belongs too?"

The two guards gasped when they saw Inuyasha blade.

"That's Lord Inuyasha's sword isn't it?" The guard asked the other looking over at him.

The other guard looked at him, "It looks like it and Lord Inutashio and Lady Izayoi have been looking all over the place for him. Since he hasn't been seen since last night."  
The guard glared at Naraku, "Where did you get that sword lass?"

Naraku tilted his head, "I found it laying in the forest just a few miles from here. I recognized it so I decided to bring it back to its owner, which I'm guessing is here."  
"So…you came all this way to return it to us?" The other guard asked arching a brow.

Naraku nodded, "Yes I mean what would a girl like me to with a sword, especially when it's Lord Inuyasha's sword?"

The guards eyed Naraku for a while before stepping aside opening the gate walls allowing him to enter.

Naraku smiled nodding his head, "Thank you. You two are such fine gentlemen."

Naraku walked past them and through the gates once he was in the guards closed the gate doors.

He mentally laughed glancing back at the gates, '_Heh fools._'

"You sure it was wise to let that girl through?" The guard asked the other.

The other guard looked over at him, "I don't think it was. But if it's anyone evil I'm sure Lord Inutashio can kill him, especially with Lord Sesshoumaru here as well."

* * *

Inuyasha grumbled as he laid on a wooden floor.

_**Inuyasha shifted his position a bit, "So…when will I get the crown?"**_

"_**Well I figured since Sesshoumaru and Rin are going to be visiting in a few days that maybe we can have the ceremony during the time they are here." Inutashio replied.**_

"_**Whoa…that soon." Inuyasha said softly quite shocked that it would be that soon.**_

_**Inutashio nodded, "We should do this while everything is all peaceful and quiet." He narrowed his eyes, "Since who knows when Naraku will attack us."**_

Inuyasha's eyes twitched slightly._**  
Sango rolled her eyes, "Listen we are just saying even if you aren't scared or nervous that this is a really big thing, which is happening really fast." She tilted her head, "And we all know you weren't really expecting it to go that fast either."**_

"_**So if you think it is going too fast I think you should tell your father before he permanently sets the date." Miroku advised.**_

"_**We know you are scared. Whether you admit it openly or not."  
Miroku nodded opening his eyes to look at Inuyasha, "I agree. Sure you may have thought it was exciting to be king when we were growing up. But you have now seen all the duties your father as done and it's a lot of stuff. Heck I think I would be scared too if I were you."**_

Inuyasha growled slightly, '_I'm not freaking scared! I told you that!_'

"_**Do you really think a hanyou like yourself can defeat me? The powerful wizard Naraku." Naraku laughed out.**_

"_**Naraku!?" Inuyasha shouted as he stood up, "You…you're the Naraku that my father and my brother have been searching all this time for?!"  
"Wow I must really be famous back here." Naraku replied sarcastically, "That makes me so happy. Now I can return to the village and not have to introduce myself."  
Inuyasha snarled and charged towards him, "Don't go thinking you will defeat me so easily!" 'I have to kill him! If I kill him, dad will pull the ceremony back a bit giving me some more time to just be a prince for a while.'**_

'_But…but that doesn't mean I'm scared. I just wanted some more time to not have responsibilities._' Inuyasha thought to himself.

_**Inuyasha gasped as his eyes went wide as he felt his body starting to pound.**_

"_**Gotra suma titra chura." Naraku continued to chant.**_

_**As Naraku chanted his words Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut while feeling the wind blow harshly as he felt his stomach starting to turn like he was going to throw up. He dug his claws into the ground as his hand started to transform into a paw.**_

"_**Gora totra kora sumra rota elroa."**_

_**Inuyasha's skin started to turn white like his hair and furry. His ears transformed from perky pointy ones to long and floppy like a golden retriever's ears. His mouth and nose started to stretch out into a long nose like a dog's and his legs and arms transformed into actual doglegs and out of the top of his butt grew a tail.**_

"_**Ruamotra gramona hotro shoTA!" Naraku shouted out his last word, which made Inuyasha yell which soon turned into a howl.**_

_**Once the pain subsided Inuyasha opened on of his eyes and they went wide once he saw paws instead of hands.**_

'_**WHAT!?' He moved his body around to get a better look and make sure he wasn't just imagining things. He was now a dog the size and height of a Great Dane but at the looks of a golden retriever.**_

_**Inuyasha shook his head closing his eyes tight, 'This is just a dream. I-It's not real.' He opened one eye to look down to hopefully find his normal clawed hand but still saw a paw.**_

'_**AHHHHHHHHHH!' He yelled in his head but howled on the outside.**_

Inuyasha growled, '_He will pay for that!_'

"_**Get out of my territory you demons!" She shouted narrowing her eyes aiming another arrow at the demons. The woman was wearing a blue kimono that was one inch above the knees that showed her skinny form. She had bruises and scars over her body and she had no shoes. She also had a blue jewel medallion around her neck.**_

"_**What!?" One of the demons shouted, "How could that little girl take down a demon!?"  
Inuyasha stared at her though his vision started to blur, 'Where…the hell did she come from?'**_

_**She continued to glare at the demons, "I'm warning you get out of here while you still can."  
"Oh? And what will you do if we don't?" A demon mocked narrowing his eyes at her.**_

"_**I'll kill you!" She yelled aiming her arrow at him.**_

'_No you moron! Run for it!_' Inuyasha shouted in his mind.

Inuyasha quickly opened his eyes and looked around and sighed in relief to see that there were no demons around him or the girl for that matter.

'_Good…that was all just a dream._' He tried getting up but ended up wincing in pain as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, '_Gah! This hurts!_' He laid his stomach back on the floor and opened one eye, '_Why the hell does my abdomen hurt?_'

_**Inuyasha jumped over it and suddenly something dug up from the ground and stabbed him right in his stomach.**_

'_**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' Inuyasha howled in pain as he collapsed on the ground.**_

'_Yeah…I remember that._' Inuyasha thought to himself and narrowed his eyes, '_Wait a minute! Are you telling me that all of that other stuff wasn't a dream either!?_'

Inuyasha glanced at himself to see if he was a dog and groaned when he saw that his hand was now a paw, '_So…that wasn't a dream. I have turned into a dog._' Inuyasha growled, '_All thanks to that stupid bastard Naraku! I swear when I find him he will regret ever turning me into a dog!_'

He sighed and looked up only to now notice that he wasn't outside he was actually inside a small hut, '_When the hell did I get here?' _He asked himself continuing to glance around observing the small hut.

There were two hay beds one on each side of the hut. In the middle was a fire pit with a little fire going with a little black pot on it with some steam coming out of it. In some of the corners there were tools but in one corner there laid the bow and arrows. The hut looks really beat up there were cracks in the wood.

'_Looks like someone doesn't know how to take care of their hut._' Inuyasha said to himself, '_But…_' He narrowed his eyes slightly, '_How did I end up here?_'

"Oh you're awake I see."

His ears tweaked when he heard a young woman. He raised a brow as he looked over toward the opening of the hut to find the same girl that saved him standing there holding up the curtain that was hanging over the opening.

'_It's…it's her._' Inuyasha thought to himself in slight relief, '_She's okay at least._' He jerked his head a bit now realizing something, '_Hold the phone! Are you telling me that this girl brought me here!?_'

The girl smiled as she approached him holding a wooden bucket in her hand, "For a while there I thought you weren't going to wake up for at least five days considering the injuries those demons gave you."  
Inuyasha just stared at her as she placed the bucket on the floor near the fire pit and walked over towards him.

She knelt down in front of him smiling brightly, "But I'm glad to see that you are okay. I was worried for a few minutes there."

Inuyasha just looked at her oddly while tilting his head, '_This girl is weird. I have never seen a girl this cheery before._'

The girl motioned her hand towards him, which caused Inuyasha to jerk back.

"_**Thank you so much." The girl said as she grabbed his hand.**_

_**Once she grabbed his hand she started to laugh, "You fool."**_

"_**Huh?" Inuyasha replied raising a brow. The girl gripped tighter on his hand as red lightening bolts came out of her hand and onto his.**_

"_**AHHHHH!" Inuyasha yelped as the shocks made him fly backwards slamming his back into a trunk of a tree.**_

_**He winced as he started to rub his back.**_

Inuyasha moved back and began growling at her showing his fangs making the girl jerk back while pulling her hand back with wide eyes.

Inuyasha glared at her, '_I won't make that mistake again!_' He continued to growl waiting for the girl to make a move but she only sat there staring at him in fear, he was now confused, '_Why isn't this girl making a move!? Isn't she Naraku?_'

The girl frowned letting out a soft sigh, "Great even a dog doesn't like me."

Inuyasha's growl softened up and raised a brow as he watched her stand up and walk over towards a couple of barrels near the edge of the other hay bed, '_Wait isn't she going to attack me?_' He watched her as he stopped growling, '_Isn't she Naraku? Or part of his scheme?_'

The girl sighed while taking out a bowl and filled it with some green gulp, "Even if you don't like me…" She met his eyes, "Will you at least let me take care of those wounds? They will get worse if I don't take care of them."

Inuyasha furrowed a brow tilting his head at her, '_Should I trust this girl? I mean she doesn't appear to be part of Naraku's scheme…but…_' He suddenly winced as he felt another sharp pain in his stomach making him fall on his stomach again.

"Oh!" He heard the girl say loudly.

He glanced at her watching her as she knelt down in front of him.

"See? You're too hurt to go anywhere. So you might as well let me take care of those wounds so they can heal faster." The girl advised, "And once your wounds are completely healed you can go if that is what you want."

Inuyasha had no choice but to nod allowing the girl to take care of his wounds. The girl smiled and crawled over towards his torso and took off the blanket that he now just realized was laying on top of him and unbandaged the wound to put more herbs on it.

Inuyasha watched attentively as she rubbed the green goop on his wound, which caused him to wince slightly but shrugged it off, '_Who is this girl? Why is she so willing to help me?_' He mumbled when he noticed her bruises and scars on her face, arms and legs.

He arched a brow, '_Where did she get those wounds? I know she didn't get them from those demons last night considering they weren't even able to touch her._'

Inuyasha's ears twitched when he heard her sigh.

She wiped her forehead and looked over at him, "This wound is pretty bad. I wouldn't be surprised if you wouldn't be able to stand for the next five or eight days."

Inuyasha grunted, '_Keh that wound will be nothing in at least two days tops._'

"It was a good thing I was around that area when those demons attacked you." The girl continued still staring at him, "Or else those demons could have done a lot worse than this."

Inuyasha snorted, '_I'm sure I could have handled them. Though I'll admit she has a lot of guts to stand up to those demons like that._'

The girl wrapped a clean bandage on his wound since his other one wasn't clean anymore since it was stained with Inuyasha's blood. Once she was done she sighed and wiped her head again.

"Well that takes care of that." She picked up the bowl and placed it down next to the barrel that the green goop was in.

She turned to look at him, "You must be thirsty." The girl grabbed a clean bowl and walked towards the opening of her hut and glanced back at him, "I'll get you some water." She smiled at him, "Be back in a sec."

Inuyasha just watched her as she walked out of the hut.

* * *

The girl hummed a pleasant tune as she walked over towards her barrel that had water in it that was next to the corner of her hut.

"You know it's kinda fun having a dog around." The girl said to herself, "I've always wanted a dog since I was a kid."

The girl leaned to look into the barrel and groaned when she saw that it was almost gone, "Looks like I'm going to have to get some more." '_Gee won't that be fun._'

The girl dunked the bowl into the barrel filling it up with water and sighed as she walked back into the hut.

* * *

Inuyasha picked his head up when he saw the girl coming back into the hut.

The girl smiled at him, "Got your water." She placed it down in front of him.

Inuyasha took that chance to sniff her arm to see if she had that horrible scent that Naraku had.

The girl watched him, '_Now why is he smiling me?_'

'_Well she doesn't have the terrible smell that was on Naraku. Actually she smells way better than he does._' He glanced up at her, '_ So I guess she's isn't Naraku._'

The girl smiled warmly chuckling lightly starting to realize why he was sniffing her, "What, did you think I was some sort of demon or something?"

Inuyasha looked at her as she tilted her head continuing, "Don't worry fluff ball..."  
Inuyasha twitched his eye, '_Fluff ball!?_'

"I am in no way a demon." The girl reassured and sighed, "I'm just a normal girl trying to get by with her life."  
Inuyasha tilted his head, '_You call hitting demons with a purple and blue lighted arrow normal?_'

The girl stared at him before sighing softly, "And I doubt you understand anything that I'm saying."

Inuyasha grumbled narrowing his eyes slightly, '_I do too! I just can't talk to you right now._'

"Though…you look kinda different than most dogs." The girl pointed out.

'_Got that right._' Inuyasha said to himself.

"Well…" The girl sighed out beginning to stand up, "I have to go to the lake and get some more water. Since I am kinda running out."

Inuyasha just watched her as she walked over towards the corner where her bow and arrows were.

He raised a brow, '_Does she really need those?_'

The girl smiled at him, "I'll be right back."

Inuyasha watched her as she walked out of the hut, '_Will she be all right?_' He sighed, '_Hopefully the girl won't go and get herself killed._' He looked at the bowl and tilted his head, '_Now…how to I drink this?_' He grumbled, '_Guess I have no choice but to drink it like a dog._'

* * *

Naraku walked into the thrown room where Inutashio and Izayoi where sitting in talking with Sesshoumaru and Rin, still disguised as a young woman.

"Don't worry I'm sure he will show up. He is after all a demon." Rin reassured Izayoi who was sobbing slightly.

"Yeah I could have just went off just to think about things and accidentally slept in the forest and is on his way back." Sesshoumaru grunted.

"I hope you are right." Inutashio said to his son with his arms crossed.

Sesshoumaru looked at him, "I doubt Inuyasha would chicken enough to run off because he was scared. Especially when he had been waiting his whole life for this."  
"Well maybe he thinks it's going too fast." Izayoi sobbed out softly looking over at her husband and stepson.

"Mm?" Inutashio and Sesshoumaru mumbled turning their attention towards her.

"What do you mean?" Inutashio asked arching a brow.

Izayoi looked at him with soft yet sad eyes, "Well-"

"Um excuse me?"

Inutashio and the others looked down as Naraku bowed his head.

Inutashio raised a brow, "Who are you?"

Naraku looked up at him, "I'm just a lonely woman trying to find a place to stay when I came across this." He held up Inuyasha's sword.

Izayoi and the others gasped when he held up the sword.

"That's Inuyasha's sword!" Izayoi pointed out loudly with wide eyes.

"Where did you get that!?" Inutashio ordered loudly brutally standing up.

Naraku tilted his head, "I just told you that I came across it while walking through the forest when I found it laying on the ground a few miles from here."

Inutashio narrowed his eyes, "And you just happened to know who's it was?"  
Naraku shook his head, "No not at all. I just continued to walk through the forest, since I heard there was a village here, and I saw your castle and took a guess that the sword came from here. What you don't believe me?"  
Sesshoumaru and Inutashio glared at him not sure if they were to believe him or not. Since they both felt uneasy when they stared at him straight in the eyes.

"Then we deeply thank you for bring back the sword." Inutashio replied taking the sword from Naraku whom smirked.

"No problem my lord." Naraku replied proudly.

"Guards!" Sesshoumaru shouted out making the guards that were in the thrown room jerk turning their attention up at him.

"Why don't you take our guest…"

Naraku just smirked, '_Yes everything is going according to plan._'

Sesshoumaru glared at him, "Into the dungeon!"  
Naraku's smirked faded, "What!?"

Before he had a chance to do anything three guards came up from behind him and tied his arms back and held onto him so he wouldn't escape.

"Why are you doing this!?" Naraku asked loudly narrowing his eyes, "All I did was bring you back this Inuyasha's sword! And you're locking me in the dungeon!?"  
"Sorry it's nothing personal." Inutashio grunted out narrowing his eyes, "I just don't trust you with what you just told us."  
Naraku growled watching Inutashio as he pointed his finger towards the doors, "Take her and lock her up!"  
"You will regret this!" Naraku shouted letting the guards take him away, '_He will so regret this!_'

* * *

The girl tiptoed through the thick forest that led towards a small lake. She kept glancing around keeping an eye out for any sign of demons that may attack her.

She gripped tightly on her bow ready to pull it off of her shoulder whenever the demons will show up.

'_I must not put my guard down. If I do…that will be the end of me._' She thought to herself as her blue jewel necklace swung on her neck.

She jerked her eyes as she noticed something blue in front of her she looked and sighed in relief when she saw the lake.

'_So far so good._' The girl thought to herself.

She bent down in front of the lake and placed the bucket next to her and was about to fill it up when she heard something brush against some bushes.

The girl narrowed her eyes glancing over her shoulder now feeling a demonic aura coming from behind her. She pulled off her bow and pulled out an arrow and quickly stood up turning towards the bushes behind.

"Okay come on out demon I know you are there!" She shouted narrowing her eyes.

Nothing responded all she heard was the wind blowing past her. But the girl didn't put down her bow she glanced around from tree to tree trying to figure out where the demon will pop out from.

'_I know it's here. I can't feel it._' She thought to herself with her eyes still narrowed.

Her eyes went wide when she heard something splash up from behind her. She quickly turned only to have something slash her side.

"AHH!" She yelped as she backed away from the water with her arm now bleeding. She winced closing one eye and looked over towards the lake to find a snake demon standing in the water hissing at her.

"That necklace will be mine!" It hissed before throwing out his tongue going for her neck.

The girl quickly brought up her bow producing a bright purple light, which burned the snake's tongue.

"AHHHHHH!" The snake yelled out pulling his tongue back away from her.

He glared at her and charged towards her, "You will regret that bitch!"  
The girl quickly brought out an arrow placed it in her bow and shot it at the snake purifying him.

She grunted lowering her bow, "Like I would let this necklace fall into your hands."

The girl sighed as she bent down next to the lake again and dunked the bucket in the water and once it was filled up she picked it up and her bow and began walking back towards the hut.

'_I must protect it._' She thought while grabbing onto the blue jewel, '_I won't let my mother down. I won't let it fall into the hands of evil._'

Suddenly she heard another brush against the bushes in trees that surrounded her. Her head jerked up as a soft gasp left her lips while feeling more demonic aura.

She growled softly narrowing her eyes, "Jeez can't they give me a break!?" She stopped and turned to fight but remembered that she had the bucket in her hand.

She looked down at it and sighed, '_I have to get this back, because I'm not going back for another load!_' With that thought in mind the girl started to run for it towards her hut.

As she ran suddenly something dug up from the ground cutting her leg.

"AHH!" She yelped taking a step back placing her hand over her cut.

She growled glaring up at a badger demon holding out his sharpened claws.

"Don't go thinking we will let you get away." The badger snarled out, "Especially when you are holding that necklace."  
The girl quickly placed an arrow in her bow, "You are not getting this!" She shouted as she released her arrow making it fly towards the badger demon.

The badger grunted as he smirked and quickly jumped to the side making the arrow hit a tree.

"Don't go thinking that will work every single time." He snorted out and charged towards her.

The girl gaped out holding her hands up, "AHHHHHH!" She screamed out as her purple aura along with a blue one emerged and shot out a bright purple and blue light.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The badger yelled out at the light shocked him and made him fly back into a tree.

The girl put down her hands and took that chance to grab her bucket and run for it. She quickened her pace when she heard a loud growl coming from behind her.

She started to pant, '_I have to make it! Please let me make it!_'

The girl gaped when she saw her hut between two trees and smiled, "Yes! Almost home!"  
"You will not escape me!" She heard the badger demon yell out.

The girl groaned and kept running until she ran past the two trees onto her land. Once she was in she looked back just as the badger demon approached the two trees and smacked against a barrier shocking him making him fly backwards.

She sighed in relief, "Thank you Dad for being a monk." The girl walked away from the trees ignoring the growls that the badger made and stood in front of her water barrel and filled it up.

Once it was filled up the girl sighed and began walking back to her hut, '_Might as well take care of these wounds._'

* * *

Inuyasha was resting his eyes as he laid his head on his paws on the floor. His nose started to twitch as the scent of human blood reached his nose.

'_Mm?_' He picked his head up to look at the opening of the hut, '_Blood? Why am I smelling human blood?_'

He twitched when he saw the curtain moving and acknowledged the girl as she walked in.

"I guess that'll do it for today." She sighed out with her eyes closed.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide when he noticed her leg and arm bleeding, '_It was her blood that I was smelling!?_' He quickly stood up wincing slightly but ignored it since his main focus was on the injured girl standing in front of him, '_What the hell happened?_'

The girl didn't notice Inuyasha standing up as she walked over towards her barrel full of herbs and knelt down in front of it and rummaged through it trying to find the right herb to use.

She raised a brow when she heard something walking towards her. She looked and gaped when she saw Inuyasha slowly walking towards her.

"Whoa!" She said loudly crawling over towards him wrapping her arms around his neck, "You shouldn't be walking around right now."

Inuyasha ignored what she said and sniffed her arm signaling her to tell him what happened.

"Oh." He heard the girl say.

He looked at her as she scratched her cheek, "So you noticed that."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes slightly, '_How could I not notice that?_' He nodded signaling her that he did notice.

"So…you're wondering what happened?" She asked softly turning her eyes away from his.

Inuyasha nodded which she noticed.

That's when she looked at him with a raised brow, "Wait a minute!" Inuyasha tilted his head as she continued pointing a finger at him, "Are you comprehending everything that I'm saying?"

Inuyasha nodded, '_Duh of course I can. I'm not just a dog I'm a demon dog!_'

"So you can understand practically everything that I'm saying?" She asked raising a brow.

Inuyasha let out a frustrated sigh before nodding his head, '_Yes! For the last time I can understand every word you are saying!_'

"Heh." She grunted out leaning back against the wooden wall, "You are one of the most strangest dogs I have ever seen."

Inuyasha grunted narrowing his eyes, '_Don't change the subject!_'

His ears twitched when he heard the girl sigh he gave her his full attention.

"Let's just say living on your own in these parts of the woods…" She looked up at him to meet his eyes, "Aren't all that safe."

'_Aren't that safe?_' Inuyasha repeated as he stared at her in slight confusion.

His eyes went wide once he realized what she was talking about, '_Are you telling me she was attacked by demons!? But why? Why are they attacking her? She doesn't look that tasty._'

The girl smiled weakly at him, "Yeah demons don't like me very much."

Inuyasha snorted, '_That doesn't really answer my other questions._'

"They don't like me very much…" The girl continued looking down at her necklace and placed the jewel between her fingers to so him, "Because I'm protecting this."

Inuyasha looked at it, '_A jewel? They are attacking her…because of that?_'

"This jewel was protected by my mother up till the day she was murdered still trying to protect it." The girl continued softly lowering her eyes to the floor, "But before she died she gave it to me telling me to protect it and make sure it never falls into the hands of evil."

Inuyasha looked at her with soft eyes, '_Man talk about a burden. Why would her mother ask her own daughter to do such a thing even if it might end up killing her one of these days?_'

He jerked his head up when he heard her sigh he looked at her to see her smiling weakly at him.

"But…let's not talk about that anymore." She said softly.

Inuyasha wanted to know more about the jewel but by the notion in the girl's voice that she was hurt and he didn't want to press in anymore than he already has.

The girl smiled at him as she crawled over towards him, "Well I let me check those wounds of yours' again."

Inuyasha nodded and laid down on the floor again so she could check on his wounds.

"Oh and I should probably introduce myself." He heard the girl say getting him to glance at her to find her smiling at him, "I mean might as well since you can understand me." She tilted her head, "My name's Kagome and it's nice to see that you are trusting me a little bit here fluff ball."

Inuyasha's eye twitched again, '_Why must she call me fluff ball?_' He sighed laying his head back down on the floor feeling Kagome unwrap his wound, '_I guess…I can trust this girl. Since she seems to be a pretty nice girl._'

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Yeah, yeah I know it's short but give me a break. I wanted to update this before my friends come over for my huge sleepover party and Sunday September 2nd or 3rd (I forget the dates) I'm going back up to Green Bay to visit a bit. But I promise the next chapter will be a little longer, not sure how much, but it will be. Now next chapter will be when Kagome's home gets burned down and they go to her village and that's all I'm telling you. Well hope you stay tuned for the next chapter.

Again sorry for the shortness

See ya next time!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	3. stay or go, you choose

Hey guys! Sorry the long update again. I've been working on **Finding Your Voice and Keeping it**, **Quints**, and my manga story on fictionpress, **Kokoro**. But I figured to get this story updated again before I work on my other stories that seriously need my attention right now. But anyway let's get to the next chapter!

**Chapter 3: Stay or Go, You Choose**

Two days have gone by since Inuyasha was put into Kagome's care and with each passing day he had gotten better and better by the second. He had felt more at ease now knowing that Kagome wasn't Naraku or a trap set up by Naraku, considering she hadn't made a crude move towards him and he was dead. But he did begin to worry about the young woman because every afternoon, after Kagome would check his wounds and give him water, she would go to the river and get more water and come back into the hut with more bruises and scars. But Kagome would just smile at him like if those wounds were nothing. Inuyasha found it kinda ironic because he is sometimes the same way. As the days went by Inuyasha began to wonder, once his wounds were completely healed, if he should really…leave Kagome behind.

It was mid-morning and Kagome was sitting her hut next to Inuyasha's abdomen unwrapping the bandage to check up on his wound again to see if it was getting any better then the last time that she checked.

Inuyasha laid his head between his pawed, furry arms leaning his chin on the wooden floor. He sighed caught up in his thoughts, '_It's the third day. I should be able to move more smoothly now with no problems. I will be able to go back home but…_' Inuyasha picked up his head to look at the young priestess next to him, '_Should I really leave and leave her behind?_' He glanced at her from head to toe taking note of all of her wounds including her new ones, '_As strong as she seems to be…_' He moved his eyes up towards her face, '_She is not really safe here. Heck she even pointed out to me two days ago that it was not safe!_'

Kagome smiled now looking at his wounds, "Well look at that." She looked over at him meeting his eyes, "Your wound has completely healed." She chuckled lightly, "Which, I guess, is to be expected from a demon dog."

Kagome had figured out he was a demon two days ago. She knew because the fact that he was able to understand her, when most dogs wouldn't, gave it away but the main thing was in fact that his wound in his abdomen was healing at an unusually fast rate. When she first figured it out she felt a little uneasy about having the demon dog stay with her. But as the two days past the dog did prove to have a gentle side to him, which made her relax.

"So by the looks of it, you might be able to leave here today." Kagome showed that she was happy and she was happy for her dog friend. However, in a way she felt sad since even she had to admit she had grown attached to the dog's company. She had been alone since she was 15 years old, when she left her village, and having someone staying with her these past two days made her feel…happy and not so alone. Kagome had been hoping to keep the dog but she knew it wasn't her decision to make, it was the dog's choice to make.

Inuyasha grunted softly as he stared at her still trying to figure out what to do, '_I just don't know. I mean I need to get back to the castle and try finding Naraku and kill him for doing this to me! But…I also feel the need to stay here._'

His ears twitched when he heard Kagome suddenly sigh and he looked at her as she stood up. Kagome walked over towards him and picked up his bowl.

"I'll go get you some more water." Kagome said to him before walking out of her small hut.

Inuyasha grumbled staring at the opening of the hut, '_What should I do?_'

* * *

Kagome sighed as she came back into the hut, '_I should serious fill that barrel up to the top. One bucket a day isn't going to cut it._'

She looked down at Inuyasha meeting his eyes, Kagome smiled as she set the bowl down in front of him, "Here you go."  
Inuyasha stared at the bowl before looking back up at her to see her walking towards that same corner where her bow and arrows were.

Inuyasha growled softly as he watched her grab the bow and arrows, '_She's going out again!?_'

Kagome placed her bow over her shoulder along with her small barrel of arrows. Once she was set she walked towards the opening of the hut.

She glanced at Inuyasha, "I'll be back. I'm just going out to get some more water."  
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as she walked out of the hut. He grunted quickly standing up and ran out of the hut, '_I have to stop her!_'

Inuyasha noticed Kagome going towards two trees carrying her wooden bucket in her hand. He just growled softly and ran towards her and grabbed the bottom of her kimono with his mouth.

Kagome gasped feeling herself get suddenly pulled back. She looked behind her and gaped when she saw Inuyasha, "Hey?" Kagome bent down slightly, "What's the deal?"

Inuyasha glared at her, '_You are NOT going anywhere this time!_' Inuyasha shook his head remembering he couldn't talk trying to signal to Kagome that he did not want her to go.

Kagome arched a brow not really comprehending of what he was trying to tell her, but she decided to take a guess, "Um…did you do that because you need more water already?"

Inuyasha shook his head his eyes still narrowed.

"Um…you…don't want me to go or something?" Kagome took another whack at it.

Inuyasha suddenly nodded his head, '_Yes! I'm getting sick of seeing you come into your hut all bloody! Do you have any idea how annoying blood scents are!?_'

Kagome smiled softly at him, "Aw that's so sweet." She gently scratched his ear.

Inuyasha twitched and resisted the urge to give into it and kept his poseur.

Kagome chuckled lightly before sighing, "But I have to go." She tilted her head, "I have to get water for my barrel or else I won't have any water."  
Inuyasha grumbled, '_As true as that is, it's obviously too dangerous for you to go!_'

Sure Inuyasha didn't really know this girl but just like any normal man he hates seeing a girl, or woman, get hurt. He just couldn't stand seeing that, even if he was a demon!

Kagome stood back up still smiling at him, "So if I want to survive I have to go to the river."  
Inuyasha continued to growl as he watched her turn around and began heading towards the two trees, '_Fine!_' He ran after her again and walked up next to her, '_Then I'm going with you!_'

Kagome noticed him and raised a brow as she stopped, "You…wanna come with me?"

Inuyasha stopped and narrowed his eyes at her before nodding his head, '_You are not going alone!_'

Kagome sighed smiling at him before kneeling down in front of him, "As sweet as that is…you can't come with me."  
Inuyasha furrowed a brow slightly narrowing his eyes, '_And __**why**__ can't I go?_'

Kagome noticed his confused expression, "I don't know if you can feel it or not but there is barrier around this hut."

Inuyasha jerked his head back raising a brow looking around the area as she continued, "And this barrier is suppose to keep demons out." He looked back at her giving him a serious look, "So once you go out you can't get back in, since you are a demon."

'_Can't you just let me into the barrier when we come back here?_' Inuyasha thought arching a brow.

Kagome sighed standing back up and walked towards the trees where the scrolls were stuck on and placed her hand over it, she looked back at Inuyasha, "This was a scroll that my father had used when he was alive. If I take down the barrier even for a second…" She narrowed her eyes, "Then the other demons will come and attack while I'm gone and I so do not want my home to get destroyed again!"  
Inuyasha flinched arching a brow, '_Again?_'

Kagome turned to face him, "And that almost happened when I brought you here to take care of your wounds."  
Inuyasha jerked slightly as he watched her gaze soften, "So, unless you want to leave, I suggest you don't go out of this barrier. Since I do not want to risk putting down this barrier."  
Inuyasha was about to bark when Kagome ran out of the barrier, '_Hey!_' He sighed and sat down watching between the trees, '_I am really hating this._'

* * *

Naraku sat on a ugly looking bench in a dark, cold cell, still disguised as a woman. He grumbled not liking how things didn't go the way he thought they would.

'_Guess the old king is more on guard than I thought he would._' He narrowed his eyes at the bared wall with is arms a crossed, '_Well looks like I have to figure out a way to get out of here._'

Naraku uncrossed his arms and stood up and walked towards the bared wall and glanced around for any signs of a guard. There was one but the guard was far on the other side of the dungeon.

He let out a relieved sigh and sat back down on his bench and held out his hand as a black aura emerged from his palm and formed into a ball.

Naraku stared at the black aura ball as it showed him an image of a forest, "So me where the jewel is?" The image then changed to view Kagome walking cautiously through the forest.

He narrowed his eyes, "Those demons better get that jewel this time!"

* * *

Kagome quietly walked through the trees glancing around watching for any signs of demons that would attempt to steal the jewel from her.

She grumbled narrowing her eyes slightly, '_Though why should I even bother? There's never been a single day where these demons haven't attacked me._'

Kagome hummed when she the river came into her view for the third time. She stopped and glanced around making sure no demons were around once she knew it was clear she ran towards the river and quickly scooped up some water in her bucket and ran back towards her hut. Kagome did not want to get injured this time, considering she has been worrying her dog friend, which she'll admit felt nice but she didn't like it when people, especially animals like her dog friend, worry about her.

Kagome narrowed her eyes, '_I might actually make it back without another cut!_'

But her luck just wasn't with her today as a boar demon slammed down in front of her making the whole ground shake.

"AH!" Kagome yelped as she fell on her butt, she winced and opened her eyes to see the boar in front of her.

The boar growled, "You are not escaping me this time miko!" He pointed at her, "I will take that jewel from you!" He charged towards her, "Even if it means killing you in order to get it!"  
Kagome grunted narrowing her eyes, '_Should have known I wouldn't get away that easily._' She quickly got up just as the boar slammed his fist into the ground-causing dirt to fly up.

Kagome pulled back her fist as it began to glow a bright purple, "AH!" She yelled out as she punched the boar right across the face making him fly and hit a tree trunk.

The boar winced rubbing his head while opening his eyes only to narrow them as he noticed Kagome running into the trees with her bucket, "You bitch!" He quickly got up and ran after her, "You won't get away!"  
Kagome panted trying to quicken her pace, she was getting tired of fighting these things all the time. She had been hoping that one of these days they would just leave her alone. But that never happened and she doubt it ever will.

Kagome gasped when she noticed Inuyasha waiting for her behind the barrier, '_Whoa! He waited there for me!?_'

Inuyasha stood up once he noticed Kagome running towards him but growled narrowing his eyes when he spotted the boar demon chasing after her. He motioned to run towards her and attack the demon but stopped when he remembered what Kagome told him about the barrier.

Inuyasha growled, '_Damn it! If I go out now I won't be able to get back in!_'

The boar roared out as he jumped up behind her and clawed her straight in the back.

"AHHHH!" Kagome screamed out as she fell on the ground knocking the bucket onto the ground spilling out the water.

Inuyasha jerked, '_Kagome!_'

Kagome winced as she sat up on her knees and noticed the bucket, she growled, "Damn it!"

"You're dead miko!" She heard the demon shout out.

Kagome narrowed her eyes as she pulled off her bow and aimed an arrow at him, "I have had enough of you!"  
But before she released the arrow she heard a loud growl coming from behind her. Kagome looked behind her just to see something white flash over her making a quick breeze blow by her. She gasped softly and turned her attention expecting to find that white thing in front of her but she only heard a scream from the boar in front of her.

Kagome gasped when she saw Inuyasha clawing the boar demon in half.

'_Ivon Revere Soul Stealer!_' Inuyasha shouted in his mind as he clawed the demon in half.

* * *

"What!? That dog prince is with the miko!?" Naraku gaped out loudly shocked to see Inuyasha again, '_He wasn't supposed to be there? He was supposed to be dead or should have just run off. He wasn't supposed to be with that miko!_'

* * *

Kagome's eyes went wide in awe, "Wow."  
Inuyasha sighed looking down at his paw and brought up to him to inspect it, '_Well at least I'm able to do that attack._'

"H-Hey fluff ball?" He heard Kagome say softly.

Inuyasha set down his paw and looked behind him to meet Kagome's eyes. He has gotten use to Kagome calling him that, since it couldn't really be helped, considering the girl didn't know his name.

Kagome crawled over towards him, "You know I could have handled that demon."

Inuyasha grumbled, '_But I didn't want to risk it._'

Kagome sighed and smiled warmly at him, "But…I thank you for saving me. It's nice to know at least somebody cares about me."

Inuyasha tilted his head arching a brow, '_What…_'

Kagome chuckled lightly, this dog was just too cute! But something suddenly struck in her mind and groaned, "But now…"  
Inuyasha stared at her as he watched her frown, "You can't go back in."  
Inuyasha's head jerked remembering that little detail and sighed looking over towards the barrier, '_Well…I guess it was worth it._'

His ears tweaked as he heard her sigh. Inuyasha looked at her watching her as she suddenly stood up.

Kagome turned towards the barrier and walked towards the trees where the scrolls were, "Well…if you really want to get back in…" She motioned her hand towards the scroll, "I guess I could…"  
'_No!_' Inuyasha suddenly said in his mind as he quickly ran over towards her and grabbed her by the end of her kimono again.

Kagome gasped softly and looked down at him, "You…don't want me to talk them down?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, '_If that's the only way to keep yourself safe…then I guess I have no choice but to respect that. Even though I don't want to._'

As he finished his thoughts Inuyasha went behind her and gently pushed her back into the barrier.

"H-Hey what are you doing?" Kagome asked him as she stood inside the barrier slightly shocked that he did that.

Inuyasha stared at her as he turned slightly, '_If I can't get back in…_' He narrowed his eyes as he grunted, '_Then I guess the only thing I can do is wish you the best of luck._'

Kagome gasped when Inuyasha began walking away and was about to go after him but restrained herself remembering this was his choice not hers'.

She groaned now feeling the loneliness consuming her heart, '_I guess he doesn't want to stay with me anymore._'

* * *

Naraku grunted as he watched the hanyou prince walking away, "Heh so the dog prince can't get back in huh?" He narrowed his eyes, "Which would explain how the others wouldn't able to kill her and get the jewel."

He then held up his other hand over his black orb, "Let's fix that shall we?"

Naraku's hand began to glow a blood red color, which caused a blood red outline to appear around the black orb.

* * *

Kagome sighed as she set the empty bucket over towards the barrel, "I'm not going to go out for more. I'll just deal with the amount of water I have."  
She winced when she felt a sudden sharp pain coming from her back. Kagome rubbed it and felt something wet. She raised a brow as she brought her hand forward to see that she was bleeding.

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh, "Guess I should take care of these wounds."

With that thought in mind she turned towards her hut and walked inside not noticing her scrolls burning up on the trees turning them into ash.

* * *

"Hehehehehehehe." A demon chuckled as he peeked out of a tree feeling the barrier disappear, "Ooooo the barrier appears to be gone."

The demon smirked evilly and began to snicker, "I must go tell the others." The demon turned and ran deeper into the forest, '_Master Naraku must have finally come through!_'

* * *

Inuyasha and been walking for a while now, though usually he would have been miles away by now but…he still felt troubled. He was…feeling really guilty for leaving Kagome like that but what else could he do. That barrier she put up was suppose to protect her, at least around that hut of hers', he didn't want her taking it down if it meant more demons would attack.

'_Still…even after knowing those facts I still…I still feel like I should go back._' Inuyasha thought to himself before quickly shaking his head and looked back in the direction of Kagome's hut, '_I shouldn't be worrying about her. She seems pretty capable of protecting herself._' He groaned continuing to stare down that path, '_But…maybe once I'm back to my normal form…I'll come back here and check up on her._' Inuyasha nodded agreeing with his words and began walking again, '_Yeah that way I'll be able to communicate better with her once I'm normal again._'

* * *

Kagome groaned coming out of her hut rubbing her shoulders slightly, "Well that takes care of that." She sighed and began looking around and walked towards her barrels, "Now it's time to get something to eat."  
Kagome smiled as she walked up to a barrel of apples she had collected sometime that month and was about to grab one when her eyes went wide.

She quickly turned around looking up at the sky, "What happened? What happened to the barrier!?"

Kagome glanced around, '_I don't feel it anymore._' She stared at the two trees that had the scrolls stuck on them, '_The barrier is completely gone! But…_' She narrowed her eyes, '_How…_'

Kagome's grew wide suddenly as she felt something land behind her. Kagome turned just to get suddenly jabbed in the gut sending her flying and slammed into some of her barrels breaking them and fell on the ground.

Kagome groaned in pain and opened her eyes and looked up to find three demons standing there in front of her.

She gasped.

They growled while narrowing their eyes at her.

"Thought you could escape us forever did ya?" One demon snarled cracking his knuckles before shouting, "Well today's the day you die girl!"  
Kagome glared, "Not on your life!" She quickly stood up and was about to run when an ogre demon who suddenly grabbed her by the neck.

"Gah!" Kagome gaped out and yelped as she felt the ogre's grip get tighter around her neck. But before Kagome could use her miko powers to set herself free the ogre demon threw her across her property. Kagome groaned in pain as she slowly got up on her elbows for support and looked up at the demons hearing them continue to growl at her as they motioned towards her.

Kagome narrowed her eyes as she motioned her hands to grab her bow only to grab air. Her eyes went wide, '_Oh damn it!_' She looked back towards her hut that the demons stood in front of, '_I left my bow and arrows in the hut!_'

"AH!" Kagome jerked when she heard that loud yell making her look up just in time to roll to the side as the ogre demon slammed his fist into the ground.

Kagome narrowed her eyes quickly throwing up her hands and held them up in front of the demon, "PURIFY!"  
The ogre demon screamed out in pain as the bright purple light went into his eyes and started to shock him from the head down.

Kagome took that chance to stand up and run towards her hut to retrieve her bow and arrows. A bull demon noticed her and once Kagome ran into the hut he opened his mouth to throw out a beam of fire aiming it towards her hut.

Kagome ran towards the corner and sighed in relief when she grabbed her bow and arrows, '_Good, now I can fight off these demons!_'

"Mm?" Kagome mumbled suddenly feeling extremely warm, "Why is it warm in here?" She asked herself out loud looking over towards the other side of the hut just to watch it burst into flames.

"AHH!" Kagome screamed out, as her eyes went wide, '_No!_'

* * *

'_Mm?_' Inuyasha mumbled as he stopped in his tracks on a huge hill arching a brow, '_Is that…smoke I smell?_' He turned around slightly looking down the direction where Kagome's hut was and his eyes went wide when he saw black smoke, '_Something's on fire!_ _But what…_'

Suddenly Kagome's sad face appeared in his mind.

He gasped, '_Kagome!_' Inuyasha quickly leaped onto a tree branch and began jumping from branch to branch feeling his heart pound in panic, '_Please let it not be you!_'

* * *

Kagome began coughing as the black smoke filled the air, she opened one eye to glance around and gasped when she noticed a small blanket almost near the wall that was burning. The blanket was a mash of different patterns and colors, Kagome quickly ran over towards it and picked it up just as the fire moved down towards her blanket. She sighed in relief but growled when she heard the demons snickering outside of her hut.

"Heh I think the miko's dead."

"Good now that she's out of the way we can take the jewel of hers' and bring it to Naraku."

Kagome's eyes went wide before narrowing them and tightened her hold on her blanket.

* * *

The three demons stood outside a little ways from the hut assuming that Kagome died but quickly turned their attention towards the opening of the hut just to see an arrow flowing with her purple aura mixed with blue. The arrow hit its mark, which was the ogre demon in between the bull and the other demon.

"AHHHHHH!" The ogre demon scream out in pain as it disintegrated.

The two demons gasped and looked over at Kagome who was standing in front of the hut opening holding out her bow with an arrow ready to go.

She glared at them and cried out, "You're all dead! I swear I will make you regret ever stepping foot on _**my **_land!" Kagome had the blanket wrapped around her torso.

The demons narrowed their eyes as they growled at her.

"You bitch!" They both yelled as the charged towards her.

Kagome readied her bow and released the arrow right towards them ready to hit them but the demons quickly noticed and each jumped on opposite sides of the arrow and continued to charge towards her.

Kagome gasped and quickly jumped to the side rolling on the ground as the demons missed her barely slamming their fists into the ground.

Kagome sat on one knee and slightly stood on the other holding up her bow getting an arrow ready to fire.

"GRROAR!" Kagome's eyes went wide and looked towards the forest to see a tiger demon leaping towards her.

"AH!" Kagome yelped out loudly aiming her arrow towards the tiger before hearing another loud growl. Kagome gasped when she saw Inuyasha suddenly jump towards the tiger demon and bit him in the neck using his strength to knock down the tiger onto the ground.

"Fluff ball!?" Kagome yelled out in shock suddenly standing up.

Inuyasha growled digging his teeth into the tiger demon's neck trying to break a vein or a nerve. The tiger snarled struggling against Inuyasha and tried to claw him but Inuyasha kept jumping and jerking back away from the tiger's claws and began straggling the tiger trying to make him suffocate.

Kagome stood there with wide eyes watching the dog as he brutally attacked the tiger, '_He…he came back!? Was he that worried about me?_'

Her head jerked when she heard stomping coming from behind her. Kagome looked behind her and jumped forward as the demon threw his fist at her clawing the side of her torso.

"AHH!" Kagome yelped out as she felt on the ground and twitched as she sat up holding her side and began panting glaring at him, "You bastard!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The demon yelled charging towards her again holding out his fist ready to punch her.

Kagome quickly stood up placing her bow back on her shoulder but kept out her arrow. She ran towards him and when he was about to punch her she quickly dodged to the side and stabbed the arrow in his chest right where the heart was.

"GAH!" The demon yelled out in pain.

"HA!" Kagome yelled narrowing her eyes making her miko powers emerge from her hands and onto the arrow.

The arrow began to shock the demon making him scream out in pain before turning into dust.

Kagome sighed and turned her attention towards the bull demon just to get punched in the stomach.

She gaped, her eyes growing wide as she gasped out a spit of blood. Kagome flew back gliding on the ground again and groaned before suddenly coughing trying to get back the air that had been knocked out of her.

"I will kill you miko." She heard the bull demon snarl getting her to glance up at him as she wheezed.

Inuyasha's ears perked up hearing the demon's voice and dropped the tiger's neck out of his mouth after straggling it for the past minute. He looked over at the Kagome and the demon.

The bull demon charged towards her, "No matter what the cost!"  
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes quickly leaping towards the demon and bite the bull's arm just as he motioned to throw it at Kagome.

"AHHHHHH!" The bull yelled out throwing his arm back and forth until Inuyasha let go and landed in front of Kagome growl showing his fangs.

'_Stay away from her!_' He said in his mind continuing to growl at his enemy.

'_Whoa…he's…he's protecting me._' Kagome said softly in her mind pointing out the obvious, '_Never had that happen before._'

The bull demon narrowed his eyes and growled dangerously, "Oh, think you can stop me dog?"  
'_You bet!_' Inuyasha shouting in his mind as he pounced towards the bull and jumped to the side missing the bull's fist and quickly sharpened his claws and immediately clawed the bull demon in half.

Kagome gasped with wide eyes, '_Man, he is one strong demon dog that's for sure._'

Inuyasha sniffed the air smelling for anymore demons. He found none so he sighed in relief, '_Well that takes care of that._' Inuyasha shifted turning around to meet Kagome's eyes.

He grunted as he walked over towards her as she began to slowly sit up he began sniffing her.

"Mm?" Kagome groaned in pain feeling a sharp pain in her stomach, she winced, "Hey you okay there fluff ball?"

Inuyasha grumbled, '_I'm the one who should be asking you that._' He narrowed his eyes as he looked around, '_But I don't get it. How the hell did those demons get through the barrier? Kagome told me that she put up this barrier to keep the demons out._'

His ears twitched as he heard Kagome sigh. Inuyasha looked over at her as she stood up and limped a bit as she walked over towards her burning hut, Inuyasha followed close behind her.

Kagome frowned staring at the hot flames, "No…"  
Inuyasha looked up at her and flinched when he saw tears forming in her eyes.

Kagome clenched her eyes shut as she cried out loudly, "NO! This can't be happening! This is the third home that I have lost!"  
'_Third!?_' Inuyasha gaped out jerking his head back looking back up at the burning hut, '_This has happened to her twice before!?_'

His eyes went wide as he heard something plop down on the ground beside him, he looked to find Kagome on her knees tears falling from her eyes.

'_Kagome?_' Inuyasha thought softly as he turned so his nose was facing her.

Kagome sobbed out, "I just don't get it! I don't know how the hell this happened!?"  
Inuyasha whimpered feeling bad for the girl and rubbed cheek against her as a way to comfort her, even though it wasn't his style but…he had no choice since he is a dog for the moment and he wanted to comfort the poor girl somehow.

Kagome sighed scratching Inuyasha's ear before standing up catching his attention to look up at her. She limped towards the two trees hoping to find out what happened to the barrier. Inuyasha followed since he knew the girl was badly wounded.

Kagome's eyes went wide and gaped out, "They're gone!"  
'_Mm? What's gone?_' Inuyasha asked himself as he looked up towards one of the trees and his eyes went wide when he noticed that the scroll that was once on the tree trunk was gone, '_What the hell!? Weren't they there a few minutes ago!?_'

Kagome placed her hand over the trunk, "How…" She whispered out catching Inuyasha's attention, "How are they gone? They were there this morning."  
_**"Good now that she's out of the way we can take the jewel of hers' and bring it to Naraku."**_

Kagome growled softly and turned around to glare at the hut that had now burned to the ground, "He's back."  
'_Mm?_' Inuyasha mumbled tilting his head arching a brow, '_Who's back?_'

Kagome didn't notice her dog friend's confused stare she just stared at her hut.

"_**Mom!" 13 year old Kagome screamed as she knelt down beside her mother who had been badly wounded and blood was oozing out of her body.**_

_**Her mother grunted out, "K-Kagome you must get out of here."  
"No! I won't leave you, dad and Souta behind!" Kagome refused loudly tears falling from her eyes.**_

"_**You must!" Her mother scolded loudly, she held out her hand and grabbed Kagome's small bloody hand and opened it to place the blue jewel in her hands.**_

"_**Mom?" Kagome asked turning her gaze from the jewel to her mother.**_

_**Her mother let out a raspy breath, "Take…take that with you and make sure you keep it out of his hands."  
"But mom-"**_

"_**Hehehehehehehe ain't this a pretty sight?"**_

_**Kagome gasped and looked up to meet the eyes of the evil wizard Naraku. **_

_**He smirked, "To see a dying miko saying goodbye to her lovely daughter is quite enjoyable."**_

_**Kagome glared at him and screamed at him, "You monster!"**_

"_**Kagome don't!" Her mother shouted at her.**_

_**Kagome looked down at her mother as she slowly started to sit up, "No mother don't get up!" Kagome begged holding onto her mother wanting her to stay down.**_

"_**Yes stay down and die that would make my job here accomplished." Naraku snorted out dryly.**_

_**Her mother glared at him and slowly stood up gently pulling Kagome off of her and yelled, "Kagome get out of here now!"**_

_**But before Kagome could protest her mother pushed her and she screamed as she fell in the river.**_

Kagome held onto her blue jewel and tightened her grip on it, '_Mother! I swear I will avenge you!_'

Kagome grunted before letting go of her jewel and began walking into the forest making Inuyasha's jerk surprised by her sudden movements. He gaped as he ran up to her and began following her.

Kagome noticed and stopped to look at him, "You know…" Inuyasha looked up at her as she continued, "You don't have to follow me if you don't want too. If you have things to do then go and do them I'll be fine."  
Inuyasha grumbled narrowing his eyes, '_Heh yeah right like I'm going to believe that!_'

"I have things to do myself." He heard Kagome continue giving him a serious look, "I have a murder to find…"  
Inuyasha arched a brow, '_Murder?_'

"And I won't stop until I find him and if you don't to do that sort of thing then you can leave if you want." Kagome said softly to him.

Inuyasha just narrowed his eyes and snorted as he went behind her.

Kagome noticed and arched a brow, "Fluff ball?"  
Inuyasha then went between her legs making her sit on his back like a horse.

"Ah!" Kagome gasped out loudly in surprise and gripped onto his fur as he began to walk with her on his back, "H-Hey what are you doing!?"  
Inuyasha glanced back at her, '_What does it look like? I'm helping you out! Since you obviously can't take care of yourself all that well._'

"You don't have to do this ya know!" Kagome pointed out to him, "I'm fine really!"  
Inuyasha grunted, '_Heh not the way I see it. If I left her behind like this I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing this! __I just can't stand seeing a woman in distress like this!_'

Kagome groaned getting the notion that the dog wasn't going to listen to her, "So…you're deciding to follow me huh?"

Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome sighed, but in a way she was hoping for this. She kinda wanted him to come to help make the journey go quickly and smoothly but in a way she didn't want him to come, because she feared he would get hurt and she would never forgive herself if that happened. But this dog was proving to be pretty stubborn so in a way that helped ease her guilt a bit, since if he's this stubborn then he would make it extremely difficult for anyone to kill him.

"Well if that's the case then I guess I should start calling you something other than fluff ball." Kagome continued smiling at him.

Inuyasha snorted, '_Finally! I was starting to get a little sick of being called…fluff ball._'

"Ummmm…" Kagome hummed tilting her head slightly to think and looked at him meeting his glance, "How about…" She chuckled, "Fluffy?"

Inuyasha's eye twitched, '_You have got to be kidding me?_'

Kagome chuckled when she saw his reaction, "Oh don't worry I wasn't going to call you that. I just wanted to make you twitch."

Inuyasha grumbled, '_Ha ha very funny._'

"Ummm…how about…"  
Inuyasha groaned narrowing his eyes, '_Oh here let me give you my name!_' Inuyasha then stopped catching Kagome's attention.

"Hey? Why did you stop?" Kagome asked wondering if she said something that she shouldn't have.

Inuyasha held out his paw and used his claw to write something in the dirt.

Kagome raised a brow at him, '_What is this dog doing?_'

After writing in the dirt he looked back at Kagome and tilted his head down towards the dirt. Kagome looked down and gaped astound that she saw a name in the dirt.

She read it out loud, "Inu…" She looked at him, "Yasha?"  
Inuyasha nodded.

"You want me to call you Inuyasha?" Kagome asked making sure she had her facts straight.

Inuyasha nodded, '_Yeah since that is my name after all._'

Kagome stared at him amazed, "Wow…this is the first time that I have actually met a dog that could actually write." She smiled at him, "Which proves you are way smarter than most dogs."

'_Heh well that's because I'm not a normal dog._' Inuyasha thought looking back at her.

Kagome giggled softly smiling at him brightly, "Well Inuyasha, there should be a village just over that hill." Kagome instructed pointing her figure towards the direction that Inuyasha had been heading once before.

Inuyasha followed her finger, '_So…I was heading towards a village before I smelt the smoke._'

"I need to stop in that village before we set off on our journey." Kagome informed him softly.

Inuyasha nodded before leaping off towards the path towards the village, '_Guess I'll hold off on going back home so I can help get this girl settled. But once we kill this murder I'll head back to the castle and kill Naraku!_'

* * *

"ARGHHHHHH!" Naraku yelled out and punched the cell wall in fury.

'_Damn that stupid mutt to fucking hell!?_' Naraku yelled in his head glaring at the wall and clenched his fist, '_I thought he would have been long gone by the time those demons got there!_' He slammed his fist into the wall again, "Damn it! I need to get the jewel now!"

He let out a frustrated sigh, "But I guess I should worry about that later." He narrowed his eyes before glancing around the cell, "After I get out of here."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Yeah it's a bit short, but it's long than the last one so that's good. Now I hope you guys liked this chapter I know I did! Now I don't know when I'll update again, since I have other stories to focus on and of course school is keeping me quite busy as well. But I'll try and update as soon as I can. But in the next chapter Kagome and Inuyasha go to the village where Kagome had grown up in and met up with the old woman Keade who is the only woman who is friendly towards Kagome.

Well see ya next time!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	4. trouble

Sorry for the late update you guys. I've just been busy with lots of things, like school, family stuff, other stories and me kinda just being plain lazy too. But I hope this chapter will make up for the long wait.

**Chapter 4: Trouble**

Naraku had been sitting on the bench in his dark cold prison cell, still disguised as a woman, thinking about the events that had just happened. First he turns Inuyasha into a dog so he could use Inuyasha's sword to get into the castle and maybe use him later once he had eliminated Inuyasha's family. Then he gets locked up in here because of Inutashio being really cautious about him and then once he thought he was finally going to get the jewel that the miko girl, Kagome, had that stupid dog prince, Inuyasha, came and saved her! Meaning that they had somehow met up during these past three days.

Things were not turning out the way he had thought they would. So now he had to figure out a whole new plan, to get his revenge and to get that stupid jewel from Kagome.

'_Well I am in the castle._' Naraku thought as he slowly smirked, '_So I might as well use this for my advantage since…I am a wizard after all._' He looked out of the prison bars, '_Then I will figure out what to do about that miko and that stupid dog prince._'

* * *

"Father? What do you purpose we do about that…woman in the prison cells?" Sesshoumaru brought up to his father whom sat in his desk in front of Sesshoumaru.

Inutashio and Sesshoumaru had been in Inutashio's chamber figuring out of what to do next.

"We must question her." Inutashio told him firmly as he leaned back into his chair while looking up at his son, "Since she may know more about Inuyasha than she is willing to tell us about."  
"I assume you thought that she was lying as well?" Sesshoumaru asked while crossing his arms.

Inutashio sighed as he nodded his head, "Yes. By just the way that girl answered us just gave me an uneasy feeling about it."

Sesshoumaru nodded, "Then it looks like we both agree, that girl should not be trusted."  
Inutashio nodded agreeing with his son and looked over towards his guards near the entrance of his chamber, "Soldiers!"  
The men jerked and turned their attention towards their lord, "Yes my lord!"  
Inutashio narrowed his eyes, "Bring the girl to my chamber at once!"  
The soldiers nodded, "Yes sire!"

With that said they immediately ran out of the chamber.

Sesshoumaru looked at his father, "Do you think it's wise to bring her to this chamber?"  
Inutashio leaned forward on his desk, "We won't know until she gets here my son. But stay on guard just in case."  
Sesshoumaru nodded and turned his attention towards the chamber doors waiting for the "girl" to come forth.

* * *

Sango and Miroku were out by the courtyard resting under a shady tree after a few hours of training while also trying to cope with the loss of their hanyou friend.

"You know Lord Miroku?" Sango started raising her eyes to look out into the forest.

Miroku glanced at her as she continued softly, "I don't think Lord Inuyasha really is dead. I think he's still out there somewhere." She lowered her head, "There's just no way Lord Inuyasha could be dead."  
Miroku sighed turning his eyes towards the trees in the forest, "Yes I agree." Sango looked up at him as he continued not meeting her eyes, "Lord Inuyasha never really struck me as the type of guy to go off and die someplace. He was never the type of guy to die so easily even if he was caught up in a battle somewhere."  
Sango nodded agreeing with what he was saying and looked back towards the forest, "But I do believe that he could have just ran off." Miroku glanced down at her, "I mean I know I would if I was to become queen in just a few days."  
"Same here." Miroku agreed while nodding his head and looked back at the trees, "Even though Lord Inuyasha never openly admitted that he was afraid. But I know just by the look in his eyes, the night before he disappeared, told me that he really was afraid."  
Sango stared out into the forest processing what was all said before sighing while closing her eyes as she suddenly stood up catching Miroku's attention.

"Lady Sango?" Miroku asked in curiosity.

"Well I'm tired of sitting around her doing nothing." Sango replied before turning her gaze down at him, "Especially when Lord Inuyasha might be out there probably getting himself in huge trouble."

"Are you thinking about searching for him?" Miroku asked as he stood up and stood in front of Sango arching a brow.

Sango nodded, "Well it's better than sitting around here waiting for him to return when you know he is still alive somewhere."  
"But Lady Sango we don't even know where Lord Inuyasha is or where he could have gone." Miroku pointed out to her, "Where do you suggest we look?"

"Well we have to do something!" Sango pointed out to him loudly with determination, "I was born as a demon slayer and I am now a soldier at this castle with the duty to protect the royal family and all the people that live inside this very castle." She smirked, "And I would be breaking my main duty if I didn't go out and search for Lord Inuyasha."  
Miroku stared at Sango as she continued, "And the search would go a little faster if I had the help of an expert monk that can identify demonic auras a lot easier than I can."  
Miroku suddenly smiled at her, "Well how could I say no to something as sweet as that."  
Sango smiled as she held out his hand for him to shake, "So are you saying you're with me?"

Miroku looked down at her and looked back at her meeting her eyes before smiling as he took her hand, "You bet!"

Sango smiled at the young monk brightly. But her smile immediately faded when her cheeks turned crimson red, "EHHHHH!?"  
Miroku sighed pleasantly as he rubbed Sango's bottom, "I am willing to help you anyway that I can."  
Sango began to growl as she shook her fist with veins popping out of her forehead and fist, "And _**HOW **_is this helping me!?"  
**SLAP**

Sango slapped Miroku hard right across his cheek leaving another red slap mark on his cheek.

Miroku just chuckled happily as he rubbed his now sore cheek, "Oh that was so worth it."  
Sango grumbled as she glared at him while crossing her arms, "You are such a pig monk!"  
**KAAABBOOOOMMMMMM**

Miroku and Sango jumped when they heard the explosion. Their eyes went wide as they turned their heads towards the castle and gasped when they saw that one of the castle towers was on fire.

"What the heck!?" Sango shouted in shock with a little sound of fear in her voice.

Miroku narrowed his eyes and said loudly, "Let's go Sango!"

Sango looked at him and nodded as they quickly ran back towards the castle.

* * *

"There it is Inuyasha just down this hill." Kagome instructed to Inuyasha while pointing her finger down the hill where a small village was.

Inuyasha arched a brow as he observed the village, it looked completely dead, '_Guess the folks here must still be sleeping._' He began walking carefully down the hill so he wouldn't bunk Kagome off of his back, since the girl was slightly injured. But he then started to get this…uneasy feeling about this village. Though he couldn't really make out what he was so anxious about.

Inuyasha shook his head, '_I'm probably just being paranoid._' He looked up at the village, '_This is just a village full of humans. So there's nothing wrong with it._'

Kagome sighed as she stared at the village, '_Good looks like everyone is still sleeping. So I should be able to get in there without causing a scene._'

Once they were just about to enter the village Kagome suddenly spoke up, "Wait a minute Inuyasha."

'_Mm?_' Inuyasha mumbled as he looked back at the young girl with his eyebrow raised, '_What?_'

He then noticed that Kagome was carefully climbing off of his back, which caused him to narrow his eyes, '_Now what are __**you **__up too?_'

Kagome sighed before turning her eyes to meet Inuyasha's, "You have to stay out here Inuyasha, you can't come into town with me."

Inuyasha's head jerked slightly before narrowing his eyes again, '_Why the hell not?_'

Kagome knelt down to his level and looked him straight in the eyes, "This town is not very fond of demons. So if they saw you they would run you out of town with knives and pitchforks."  
Inuyasha grumbled, '_Like I would be scared off by a bunch of puny humans with knives and pitchforks. They can't hurt me I'm a freaking demon for pete sake!_'

Kagome stared at him and had a feeling by just the look in his eyes that he wasn't going to let a band of humans separate him from her.

Kagome wanted to smile but she sighed and gave him a serious look, "And…I just don't want to cause anymore problems."  
Inuyasha perked one of his eras up when he heard that and tilted his head rather cutely, '_What?_'

Kagome chuckled at him and scratched his ear, "You're so cute."  
Inuyasha's face turned a light pink, '_Cute? She thinks I'm cute?_' He jerked and shook his head, '_Argh she's doing it again!_' He narrowed his eyes at her, '_She's trying to distract me from the topic at hand!_'

Kagome stared at him before frowning and her eyes turned droopy, "I have caused so many problems when I lived here Inuyasha and I just don't want to make matters worse by letting a demon dog follow me."

Inuyasha arched a brow, '_What problems? What problems can a girl like you possibly cause? You seem harmless to me._'

Kagome sighed and continued to look him straight in the eyes, "So please Inuyasha, stay outside the village and wait for me okay?"  
Inuyasha grumbled not really wanting to obey her but gave in and sat down on the ground signaling her that he would stay where he was and wait for her.

Kagome smiled at him and scratched his ear again, "Good boy."  
Inuyasha growled softly while narrowing his eyes, '_I'm not a freaking dog!_' His head flinched and lowered it, '_Well I guess I shouldn't be talking like that. Since I am one for the time being._'

Kagome sighed catching Inuyasha's attention again as she stood up and looked at the opening of the village, "Well," She gulped, "Here goes nothing."  
Inuyasha stared at her oddly as he watched her suddenly run into the village.

'_Okay…what was that about?_' Inuyasha thought to himself while arching a brow.

* * *

Kagome ran down the dirt road while dodging each shop stand and barrels that were in the way of her path.

'_I have to make it to Keade's without bumping into anybody! Since if I do-_' "Oof!" Kagome suddenly said immediately interrupting her thoughts as she suddenly bumped into something and bounced back and fall on the ground.

Kagome groaned as she rubbed her head in slight pain, "Ow."

"Oh I'm sorry are you okay?"  
Kagome gasped realizing she had bumped into somebody and she slowly looked up, '_Please let it be Keade._'

But she was proven wrong when she saw she had bumped into a big man who looked like he was getting ready to work in the fields.

She gabbed as her eyes went wide, '_Well…uh…maybe he doesn't know me._'

The man stared at her before narrowing his eyes before pointing at her, "Hey it's you!"  
Kagome jerked back feeling her heart pound in fear as he clearly pointed out that he knew her, '_This just ain't my day today._'

The man growled as he stood up and grabbed Kagome by her collar and forced her up.

"Ah!" Kagome yelped as the man picked her up and grabbed onto his hand that held her collar.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" The man shouted at her, "I thought we told you to stay out of our village?"

His shout woke almost everyone in the village up to see what was making all the noise.

"Oh great she came back that can't be good." One of the villagers said in distaste as they glared at her.  
Kagome gulped and told him with slight hesitation, "I…I will leave. B-But first I need to talk to Lady Keade first."  
"No! You will leave now!" The man shouted as he punched her right across the cheek letting go of her as she fell on the ground.

Kagome winced opening one eye and placed her hand over her sore cheek and looked up at the big man with some of the villagers glaring at her from behind.

The man glared at her and shouted, "Do you realize if you stay here those demons will come and attack this village!?"  
"I am well aware of that!" Kagome defended as she stood up, "But I promise you once I talk to Lady Keade then I will leave!"  
"What makes you think you even have the right to talk to the village miko!?" One of the villagers shouted at her in a hostile voice.

"Because she's my mother's sister!" Kagome shouted at them while pointing at herself, "So therefore I have to right to talk to the only living relative I have!"  
"Even so what makes you think we will risk having you stay here even if it's just for a minute?" The big man asked her angrily and then shouted, "You are a danger to us all!"  
Kagome groaned in disappointment, '_I know I'm a danger to them. I can understand their fear but…all I want to do is talk to my aunt before I go out searching for my family's killer._'

* * *

Inuyasha had been pacing back and forth waiting for Kagome to come out of the village but was beginning to feel uneasy again, '_Damn, what is taking her so long? Why did she come here anyway? Whatever she came here for shouldn't taking her this long to get it._'

"_**I have caused so many problems when I lived here Inuyasha and I just don't want to make matters worse by letting a demon dog follow me."**_

Inuyasha stopped pacing and looked over at the entrance of the village and turned to face it, '_Well I am a dog demon, a very fast one at that. So maybe if I run fast enough to catch up to Kagome the villagers won't see me._'

He nodded after agreeing with his decision and started speeding off into the village attempting to catch up with Kagome.

He sniffed the air, '_Smells like she didn't get very far._' He grumbled, as he smelt some other scents near her, '_Why are there other scents near her? Is she maybe talking to somebody?_'

* * *

Kagome pleaded one last time, "Please let me through I promise it won't be a long visit. I just want to talk to her, get the supplies I need for my journey and leave."

The villagers stared at her with their eyes narrowed figuring out of what to do.

"What should we do?" One of the village males' asked the big man.

The big man glanced back at him as he continued, "You think we should let her pass?"  
"I think we should." Said another male as he came up on the other side of the big man, "She is Kikyo's only child that survived the attack. So maybe the least we can do is let her pass."  
"The least we did was give her a home here!" The big man pointed out loudly as he glared back at him, "And what did that give us? Demons! With her having that jewel!" He pointed at Kagome's blue jewel, "Anyone who is with her is a target for those demons to murder!"  
Kagome groaned as she held onto her necklace, '_Mother, why did you have this necklace made if you knew demons would want something like this?_'

The man glared back at her, "I'm not sure about you guys but I don't want to risk anymore villagers because of this brat!"  
Kagome yelped as he grabbed her by the collar again and threw her across the dirt road crashing into a couple barrels as her back slammed against the wall of a hut.

"Naahhhh!" Kagome winced out loudly shutting her eyes in pain.

She rubbed her sore back as she opened one eye.

"Get out of our village." She heard the man snarl.

Kagome looked up at him and gabbed when she found him standing if front of her with a pitchfork, he narrowed his eyes, "Get out or else."  
"Makishi!" A woman yelled as she grabbed onto the big man's arm, "Isn't that going a bit too far?"

Makishi narrowed his eyes, "What, do you want more people to get killed?"  
"No of course not." The woman defended before saying loudly, "But killing her isn't going to solve anything!"  
Inuyasha slid to a halt and his eyes went wide when he saw Kagome sitting against the wall with a couple of broken barrels next to her with a huge man standing in front of her holding out a pitchfork.

He jumped towards her, '_Kagome!_'

Makishi growled and shoved the woman off of his shoulder, "You people are too sympathetic!" He held up the pitchfork making Kagome gasp, "Die you disgrace for a miko!"  
Kagome yelped as she covered her face with arms. At that moment Inuyasha came up from the side of the and bit onto his pitchfork and ripped it right out of his hands and slid to a stop in front of Kagome with the pitchfork in his mouth like a stick.

The villagers gasped when they saw the dog glare at them as he growled.

Kagome's eyes went wide when she heard the familiar growl and uncovered her head and gabbed when she saw Inuyasha standing in front of her, "Inuyasha!?"  
Inuyasha continued to growl as he snapped the pitchfork in half, '_What do you humans think you are doing?_'

"That…that dog…" Makishi gabbed out softly before shouting while pointing at the Inuyasha, "This dog is a demon!"  
The villagers gabbed in fear as they huddled themselves together as they stared at Inuyasha.

"It is a demon! Just look at those eyes and the fur!" A woman shouted out in fear.

"Forget that! Look at the size of the thing!" A male pointed out loudly as he pointed at the dog.

"See I told you this brat would be nothing but trouble if we let her stay!" Makishi pointed out loudly glaring at the villagers.

'_What?_' Inuyasha said in his mind arching a brow before glancing back at Kagome, '_What the hell are they talking about?_'

"Inuyasha what are you doing here?" Kagome asked him in a scolding manner as she crawled up next to him while grabbed onto the fur of his neck.

She glared at him, "I told you to stay outside the village!"  
Inuyasha glared back at her, '_Hey you should be thanking me. Since if it wasn't for me that fat bastard would have ran that pitchfork right through you!_'

"Befriending a demon?"

Kagome's eyes went wide when she heard Makishi snarl down at her. She looked up at him to find him glaring at her, "Shouldn't you mikos never befriend a demon?"  
Kagome narrowed her eyes as she stood up, "But this demon isn't an evil one! He saved my life a few minutes ago when demons were attacking _**my **_hut! I owe him a lot for that!"

Makishi pointed at her, "You're a demon lover!"  
Kagome and Inuyasha jerked.

Kagome grunted, "So what? I'm nice to anybody who is nice back, even if they are demons."  
Inuyasha looked over at her.

Makishi growled, "You…You dare call yourself Lady Kikyo's daughter when you are befriending a demon!"  
Inuyasha jerked when he heard that name, '_Kikyo!?_' He looked at Kagome, '_Wasn't she the most powerful miko that had ever lived? At least that's the way Miroku always described her along with dad._' He tilted his head at her, '_So you're telling me this girl's mother…is actually that Kikyo?_'

Kagome grumbled as Makishi continued, "If you're mother was still alive I'm sure she would be slapping you in the face right now."  
"How would you know?" Kagome asked in a slight snarl as she glared at the man, "You never even knew my mother. Though I'm sure my mother would be okay with me befriending _**this **_demon considering he did save my life."  
"Inuyasha really isn't that bad!" Kagome defended loudly, "Since if you guys haven't noticed he hasn't made one move towards you guys since he got here!"  
The villagers jerked when she pointed that out to them. They looked over at Inuyasha to find him glaring at them but didn't budge from Kagome's side.

"She does have a point." A male villager whispered to another, "That dog demon hasn't made one move towards us."  
"You think he really is a good demon?"

Makishi glared at them, "There is no such thing as a good demon! Especially when we are dealing with this disgrace for a miko!"  
Inuyasha growled, '_What the hell is his problem!?_'

The villagers narrowed their eyes once they realized something.

"Yeah that demon could just be trying to be nice so he could get a hold of that jewel in her possession!"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, '_Why the hell would I want that stupid necklace for?_'

Makishi pointed at the dog hanyou, "He could just be waiting for the right opportunity to take that from right under your nose."  
Kagome glared at him, "I highly doubt that."

"Are you saying you actually trust this…this dog demon?" Makishi asked in a slight snarl not liking that idea one bit.

Kagome snorted as she crossed his arms, Inuyasha just stared at her waiting for her answer.

"As a matter of fact I do." Kagome replied with pride.

The villagers gabbed when they heard her answer.

Inuyasha stared at her with wide eyes, '_She…she actually trusts me? Even though I have only been with her for three days?_'

"I don't know why." Kagome looked down at him, "But I'm just getting this feeling that I can trust this dog demon."

Inuyasha just stared at her in amazement as he watched her glare back at Makishi and the villagers, "And I'm going to trust that feeling. Since my mother had always told me to follow what I feel and I feel that him being with me is right and that he won't hurt me!"  
Inuyasha turned a crimson red feeling slightly embarrassed by her comment. What would she think if she knew that he was actually a demon that actually took on a human form? Would she still think that she could trust him even with her knowing that? Though he doubt she would ever know because he can't talk and tell her. But even if he could…would he really want to tell her? At least at that exact moment?

He shook his head, '_Why am I even going through all these thoughts?_' Inuyasha looked back at Kagome, '_All I'm going to do is help this girl kill this murder and get her settled down in a safe place. Once that is all done I will head off on my own mission…to kill Naraku!_'

"Get out of here you witch!" Makishi shouted snapping Inuyasha out of his thoughts just to see Makishi toss a rock at Kagome's head and hit its mark.

"Ow!" Kagome winced as she rubbed her head.

"You and that stupid demon mutt get out of this village now!" Makishi hollered at her.

"But-" Kagome started.

"I don't care if you came to see Lady Keade!" Makishi interrupted loudly and shouted, "You will leave this village at once!"  
Kagome growled as she clenched her fists glaring at the man in front of her. Inuyasha began to growl at him, '_What an asshole! Maybe I should bite his arm right off. That outta teach him a lesson for treating Kagome in that manner._'

Kagome huffed before turning her head away, "Come on Inuyasha."  
Inuyasha mumbled as he looked up at her as he noticed her continuing to walk down the same direction she was heading before she bumped into Makishi, '_What!? Don't tell me you are just going to give up just like that?_'

She glanced down at Inuyasha, "We need to get going."  
Inuyasha stared at her before glaring at the villagers one last time before quickly running up beside Kagome and followed her.

"Hold it!" They heard Makishi yell out to them.

Inuyasha growled in annoyance as he looked back at him, '_What now!?_'

"The exit is _**that **_way!" Makishi pointed out to Kagome as he pointed in the direction that they had come from.

"Sorry." Kagome replied stubbornly as she glared back at him, "But in order to get on the other side of this trail I need to get through this village and…" She turned to walk away from him, "I'm not leaving here without saying goodbye to my aunt."  
"Why you!" They heard Makishi growl out.

Inuyasha glanced back at him as Makishi charged towards Kagome with a hoe in his hand. Inuyasha jerked and quickly turned around and charged towards Makishi and slammed his head into Makishi's gut knocking the wind right out of him.

Makishi gabbed while dropping the hoe and collapsed on the ground and began to wheeze.

The villagers gasped out, "Makishi!" They ran up to him to make sure he was okay.

Makishi coughed, "Damn that stupid demon!"  
The others gabbed when they heard a very harsh growl. They turned their attention over towards Inuyasha who stood firmly in front of Kagome, whom was looking at the scene with wide eyes, as he hutched his head down glaring at them growling showing his sharp fangs.

Makishi and the villagers looked at him with fear.

'_Make a move like that again…and I'll rip that arm of yours' right off!_' Inuyasha growled threateningly.

"Looks like he's protecting the girl." A male villager observed.

"Ya think!?" Another added in a hostile tone.

"Then could it be true that this dog isn't really as bad as we think he could be?" A woman asked the men.

The men shrugged.

Inuyasha continued to growl at them when he heard Kagome speak firmly, "Inuyasha no!" He looked back at her as she gripped onto his fur signaling him to stop, "Don't hurt them!"  
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, '_I wasn't going too. I was just giving them a little warning._'

Kagome sighed and let go of him, "Come on Inuyasha let's get out of here."

Inuyasha watched her as she began to walk away again.

"Fine go to Lady Keade's hut!" Makishi snarled out.

Inuyasha growled as he glared back at Makishi, as Kagome just stopped not daring to look back at him.

Makishi glared at her, "But I better not catch you anywhere near this village again you here me!"  
Kagome grunted, "Yeah I hear you!" She glared back at him, "Though I wasn't really planning on coming back to this place you just assumed I was coming to stay."

The villagers just stared at Kagome as she turned her head away from him and began walking again.

Inuyasha glared at the villagers one final time before coming up behind Kagome and went between her legs causing her to gasp as she sat on him like she had before. He then began running away from the villagers.

'_I can see why Kagome looked scared when she ran into this town. This town is full of assholes!_' Inuyasha thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes, '_Okay the first thing that I do once I get back to my normal form and after I destroy Naraku I'm going to come back here and kick Makishi's ass!_'

"Inuyasha." Kagome said suddenly snapping him out of his thoughts.

He glanced back at her as she met his eyes, "We have to stop at Keade's hut before we leave this village."  
Inuyasha grumbled, '_I heard you._'

Kagome pointed ahead of him, "Her hut is just on the outskirts of this village."

Inuyasha nodded and leaped on top of the huts heading towards Keade's place.

* * *

Miroku and Sango ran into the castle and towards the tower that was on fire.

"That tower is the prison cells right?" Sango asked Miroku loudly making sure she had the places right.

Miroku nodded, "Yes which means someone managed to escape."

"How could someone manage to escape!?" Sango shouted out to Miroku.

"I don't know." Miroku replied loudly before narrowing his eyes, "But we won't know until we get there!"

Sango nodded agreeing with what her monk friend was saying. They gabbed when the reached the dungeon to find the guards on the ground passed out with pitch-black smoke coming out of the dark dungeon.

"Oh no!" Sango gabbed out loudly as she slid up to her fellow soldiers on the floor and picked their heads up and began to shake them gently, "Hey? Hey wake up you guys."  
The soldier she had in her arms groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Sango, "Oh…Lady Sango."

"What happened here? Why is the dungeon smoking?" Sango asked him firmly.

The soldier grunted in pain, "That…that girl…"

"Girl?" Miroku repeated arching a brow, "What girl?"

The soldier looked over at him, "The girl that…Lord Inutashio ordered to be locked up in the dungeon…because she arrived with Lord Inuyasha's sword."  
"What!?" Sango and Miroku gabbed out as their eyes shot wide open.

"What about this girl?" Sango asked loudly while narrowing her eyes as she shook the soldier again, "What did the girl do!?"  
The soldier groaned as he looked back up at her, "I don't know she…she used some kind of magic. That girl is not normal!"  
Miroku and Sango stared at the soldier before looking at each other. Miroku groaned not liking how things are turning out so far.

* * *

Naraku laughed evilly as he ran down the halls of the castle remaining in his disguise as a woman.

'_Heh looks like Lord Inutashio's soldiers aren't as tough as I thought they would be._' Naraku smirked pleased with the thought.

"Hold it right there!"  
"Mm?" Naraku hummed as he smiled back at a couple of castle guards as they chased him.

"Oh I so don't have time to be chased around by a bunch of perverted men." Naraku teased as he held up his hand. He then summoned some of his red aura in his hands and blasts a red beam at them.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The guards yelled out as they were blown away.

Naraku laughed, "Take that you fools!" He turned his attention down the hall, "Nothing can stop me now!" He continued to smirk, '_Don't you worry Inutashio…because I'm coming for you._'

* * *

"Right down there!" Kagome pointed out to Inuyasha as she pointed down at a hut that was in front of a fleet of stairs that led up to the shrine where some gravestones were, "That's Keade's place."  
Inuyasha nodded as he jumped off of the roof of the last hut he was on and landed in front of the hut, '_So…_' He looked at it while tilting his head, '_This is her aunt's place. Heh doesn't really look like it would be cozy or anything. But then again neither did Kagome's._'

"Keade?" Kagome called out to her as she carefully got off of Inuyasha's back.

Inuyasha watched her as she walked towards the hut.

"Keade, are you here?" Kagome asked loudly as she pushed some of the curtain to the side to look inside the hut and found no one inside.

"Mmmm." She mumbled as she turned around to face Inuyasha, "She's not in there."  
Inuyasha just stared at her, '_Then I guess that means she went someplace._'

Kagome rubbed her chin before looking over her shoulder to look at the shrine steps, '_Mmm…maybe she's up there._'

She walked over towards the stairs and began climbing them. Inuyasha jerked as he noticed her going towards the stairs and ran after her and began climbing the stairs himself.

He looked up the stairs, '_You think this Keade person will be up here?_'

As they reached the top of the stairs Kagome began looking around searching for any signs of her aunt.

"Keade!" Kagome called out to her again as she began walking further onto the land.

Inuyasha followed close beside her, '_Looks like she's not here either._'

Kagome groaned before calling out her aunt's name again refusing to give up yet, "Aunt Keade!"  
Inuyasha sighed and looked up at her about to try and tell her that they should leave since her aunt wasn't here.

"What is with all the raucous child?"

Inuyasha's ears perked up when he heard the voice of an older woman. Kagome and Inuyasha looked ahead towards the shrine to find an elderly woman walking up to them with a bowl of fresh picked herbs in it.

Inuyasha tilted his head, '_Is this Keade?_'

Kagome smiled and said softly, "Hey Keade, long time no see."

Keade gasped as she brought her hand over her as she looked at her from head to toe, "Kagome child is that ye?"  
Kagome nodded and chuckled lightly, "Who else would it be?"  
Keade smiled as she came up to Kagome and embraced her tightly, "Oh it is so good to see ye again child."

Kagome returned her embrace continuing to smile, "Yeah I've missed you too."  
Inuyasha just stared at the two, '_So that really is Keade._' He looked from Kagome to Keade, '_You know those two don't really look related._'

Keade and Kagome continued to smile as they pulled away from their hug and looked at each other.

"Ye have grown so much over these past few years." Keade began softly, "Ye look almost exactly like ye mother."  
Kagome just smiled, "Good then that really means I am her daughter."  
Inuyasha kept changing his gaze from Keade to Kagome and back to Keade and then back at Kagome arching a brow, '_How long as she been away from this town?_'

"Mm?" Keade mumbled as she noticed Inuyasha from the corner of her eye.

She looked at him, "I see ye brought a new friend with ye."

Kagome smiled warmly as she looked down at her dog friend, "Yeah I saved him from a band of demons."

Inuyasha snorted while narrowing his eyes slightly, '_I could have handled those demons on my own._'

Keade turned her attention from her niece to the dog hanyou and noticed his demonic aura.

She narrowed her eyes and looked over at Kagome cautiously, "Child ye do realize that dog is a demon right?"  
Kagome's smile faded once her aunt said that and crossed her arms as she nodded her head, "Yes I am aware of that." She then said in Inuyasha's defense, "But this dog demon isn't a bad one. He is a very good one."  
Inuyasha turned a light pink.

"Considering how many times he had saved my life." Kagome said softly as she looked down at Inuyasha with a smile, "So he's no evil demon that's for sure."  
Keade looked at Kagome with shocked eyes before looking down at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha grunted with his eyes narrowed at her gaining back is composure, '_Yeah! So don't go sicking any pitchforks on me or any of those other villagers on me!_'

Keade stared at Inuyasha before smiling back up at her niece, "Well Kagome if ye say he's good then I'll believe ye judgement."

Kagome smiled warmly, "Thank you Keade that means a lot to us."  
Keade smiled proudly at her niece before noticing the huge bruise that was slowly starting to show up on Kagome's cheek.

She groaned as she gently touched Kagome's cheek causing Kagome to tense up slightly, "Looks like the villagers got a hold of ye again."  
Kagome groaned sadly remembering what happened just a few minutes ago, "Yeah…they did."

Inuyasha did a double take of what he just heard the two women say, '_What? Again!?_' He looked at Kagome grimacing when he noticed the bruise on her cheek, '_These villagers…have beaten Kagome up before? But…_' He narrowed his eyes, '_Why? Kagome didn't do anything to them…well as far as I know._'

Keade sighed in disappointment when she heard what the villagers have done, "Let's head inside the shrine and take care of those wounds my dear."

Kagome watched Keade as she walked towards the shrine again. Kagome nodded and began following her with Inuyasha walking along side her inside the shrine.

"Now sit down my child and I'll be right with ye." Keade instructed Kagome softly as she walked across the shrine to get some liquidity herb potions from inside a couple of barrels.

Kagome obeyed her aunt's command and sat down in the middle of the shrine with Inuyasha laying down right next to her.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome, who didn't notice that he was staring at her, '_Why? Why were the villagers attacking her. As far as I know she seems harmless and a very nice girl. Unless you are one of those unlucky ones that get her mad then she's not so nice or harmless._'

"So how much damage did they do this time?" Keade asked snapping Inuyasha out of his thoughts to look over at her.

His head jerked back, '_How much damage? This time? Okay what the heck is up with this village!?_'

Kagome sighed and rubbed her cheek, "They didn't do that much damage." She looked up at her aunt, "They only managed to punch me in the face and throw me against the wall. Other than that they didn't do so much damage."

"Well then thank Kami that ye only got away with that many wounds." Keade said in completely relief as she sat down beside Kagome, "I remember when ye were fourteen when you came back with so many cuts and bruises that I almost ran out of herbs and bandages."  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide, '_What? Was it really that bad?_'

"Yeah." Kagome sighed out softly as she rubbed her wrist, "I think someone even broke my wrist at that time too."

'_What!?_' Inuyasha said loudly in his head quite shocked of what he was hearing, he narrowed his eyes, '_Okay seriously once I get back to my true form I will come back here and teach this town a serious lesson!_'

"But," He snapped his head at Kagome and noticed her smiling at him, "If it wasn't for Inuyasha here I think Makishi could have managed to kill me."  
Inuyasha grunted, '_Yeah you better thank me for that._'

"Well…" Inuyasha looked over at Keade who smiled proudly, "Then I am very grateful that ye had him with ye."  
Kagome chuckled lightly and nodded her head, "Yeah I am also very grateful for that."

Keade jerked her head when she realized she called the dog by a certain name, "Child did ye call the dog…Inuyasha?"

"Yeah I did." Kagome tilted her head, "Why?"  
"Oh I was just making sure I had my facts straight. Ye know when ye get old somethings just slip pass ye without ye even realizing it." Keade replied with a light chuckle.

Kagome chuckled along with her as Keade rubbed some of the herb liquid on her sore cheek.

"So ye named him after Lord Inuyasha I see." Keade assumed.

Inuyasha jerked when he heard his name and looked at the old woman, '_She knows me?_'

Kagome arched a brow, "Lord Inuyasha? Isn't he the youngest son of Lord Inutashio the king of the Western Lands?"

"Oh I see ye have heard of him." Keade replied slightly nodding her head.

"Well I have only heard stuff about Lord Inutashio. I haven't heard much about Lord Inuyasha." Kagome informed, "My mother has told me lots of stories about Lord Inutashio."

Inuyasha grunted softly as he looked at the Keade and Kagome, '_Sounds like my father is pretty famous, even all the way out here._'

Keade chuckled lightly, "Yes I figured my sister would tell ye about him considering she knew him and all."

Inuyasha's head jerked as he stared at the old woman, '_My father…knew Kagome's mother?_' He narrowed his eyes, '_Since when? I only heard him mention she was a very powerful priestess and he never explained anything more than that._'

Kagome nodded, "Yeah mom told me that she use to work in the castle but stopped helping out at the castle once she met my father and was going to have me."

Inuyasha turned his gaze to Kagome, '_Really? Heh guess you learn something new everyday._'

Keade nodded, "Yes then her and ye father moved back here to settle down and grow ye and ye younger brother here in peace."  
Kagome grumbled as she crossed her arms, "Though I don't get why we couldn't have lived in his town." She stared at Keade as she just finished putting herbs on her cheek, "Considering my life could have been a lot better there than here."

Inuyasha just stared at Kagome before hearing Keade sigh, "I'm sorry child. But I don't think ye mother knew that things would turn out the way that they have."  
"I know but still didn't Lord Inutashio want them to live there or something?" Kagome asked roughly.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her, '_I doubt my father wanted them to leave._'

Keade noticed Inuyasha glaring at Kagome but sighed before turning her attention back at Kagome, "I doubt that Lord Inutashio had anything to do with their decision." She stared Kagome straight in the eyes, "That decision was theirs' to make and they must have had a good reason for coming back to this town to live. Whatever that reason is I do not know and I doubt it will be something that any of us will ever know."

Kagome sighed knowing that her aunt said a very good point and lowered her head to look at the floor.

A thought came to her mind and held the jewel in her hand, "Aunt Keade?"  
Keade stared at her niece as Kagome raised her eyes and met Keade's with a serious expression, "Why did my mother…create this jewel?"

Keade stared at her niece before glancing down at the jewel.

Inuyasha just stared at Kagome's hand and tilted his head, '_You mean…Kagome's mother created that thing? But…but why? Especially if she knew demons would be attracted to it._'

Keade sighed softly, "I do not know child." She met Kagome's eyes again, "But I know my sister she wouldn't create something like that unless there was a reason. Whatever reason that maybe ye may have to figure it out on ye own."  
Kagome groaned lowering her eyes, "I had a feeling you would say something like that."

Suddenly she felt something gently bump into her arm.

"Mm?" She hummed as she looked over towards Inuyasha who bumped her arm again, she arched a brow, "What's the matter Inuyasha?"  
'_Tell me more about this jewel of yours'?_' Inuyasha asked himself as he looked at her firmly.

Kagome tilted her head and asked questionably, "Um…do you need some water?"  
Inuyasha groaned loudly as he shook his head, '_No! I want you to tell me more about the jewel! The jewel that you were just talking about!_'

"Uhhhh…" Kagome muttered out while tapping her chin trying to figure out what Inuyasha wanted, "Are you hungry?"  
Inuyasha growled in frustration as he shook his head, '_No! I'm not hungry!_'

"Kagome?" They heard Keade say suddenly.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked back at her as she tilted her head as she watched the two go back and forth and pointed at Inuyasha.

"Does that dog even understand what ye are saying?" Keade asked in curiosity, "Since to me he looks like he's understanding each word ye are saying."  
Kagome nodded, "I know isn't that the weirdest thing you have ever seen?"  
"What?" Keade gabbed out softly with wide eyes, "Are ye saying he completely understands ye?"  
Kagome nodded again, "Yeah he does. I don't know how but I'm guessing it may have something to do with him being a demon." She smiled down at him, "Considering he's a lot smarter than most dogs I have seen."  
Inuyasha ears twitched and grumbled, '_Okay I'm not sure to take that as an insult or as a complement._'

She looked back at Keade, "But once I found out that he could understand me I just find myself having little conversations with him." She laughed lightly as she smiled, "Though the conversations would be a lot more meaningful if I could understand what _**he **_was saying?"  
'_Heh not to mention it would make things a lot more easier on us both if I could talk._' Inuyasha muttered to himself as he found himself staring at the jewel and narrowed his eyes, '_I want to know more about that jewel. But how can I when she can't even understand what I'm trying to ask her?_'

"Hmmm." Keade hummed as she changed her gaze from Kagome to Inuyasha who was tapping his leg impatiently trying to figure out how to get her to tell him more about the jewel.

She tapped her chin and then an idea popped into her head. Keade suddenly stood up catching Kagome and Inuyasha's attention.

"Keade? Is something the matter?" Kagome asked her aunt in concern.

"I may have something that may help ye with ye situation." Keade replied before walking over towards the other side of the shrine and began rummaging through some of the barrels that were over there.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at one another before Kagome looked back at Keade and called out to her, "Help us with what?"

Keade didn't answer and continued to rummage through the barrels.

Inuyasha arched a brow, '_What is this old hag up too?_'

"Ah here it is." Keade said suddenly satisfied with what she found before walking back towards Kagome and Inuyasha.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at her to find her holding something in her hand.

"What? What did you find?" Kagome asked now curious with what Keade had and how it would help them, with whatever problem they had.

Keade sat in front of Kagome and Inuyasha and held out her hand which held a rosary necklace with black beads and sharp white fangs, "This is a prayer bead necklace and it may help ye communicate with Inuyasha better."  
"What?" Kagome gabbed out as she jerked her head back before slowly turning her gaze down at the necklace, "But I thought prayer beads were only used to subdue someone?"  
'_Eh!?_' Inuyasha said in his head loudly as he stared at Kagome not liking that idea one bit.

Keade nodded, "That is true. But this is a very special type of prayer beads that ye can basically have them do whatever ye want them to do. As long as ye have miko powers that is."

Kagome gasped as she took the prayer bead necklace out of Keade's hand, "So with this prayer bead necklace I can make so Inuyasha can talk to me?"  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide when she said that, '_Can that really happen?_'

Keade nodded, "Yes child. Now all ye have to do-"

Kagome looked up at her aunt as she continued to inform her about the necklace, "Is concentrate and summon ye miko powers into the beads and say a prayer. Then you place it around Inuyasha's neck and she should be able to talk to ye or anyone else that you guys happen to run into."  
Inuyasha and Kagome looked at her with wide eyes. They just couldn't believe of what they were hearing out of the old woman's mouth.

'_No way. So that necklace, once Kagome prays to the necklace and puts it on me, I'll be able to talk to her…or anybody that I want?_'

Kagome looked down at the necklace before looking over at Inuyasha meeting his eyes and stared at him before smiling, "Well…it would be good to have a conversation with you with you actually saying something back."  
Inuyasha stared at her before smirking and nodded in agreement, '_Let's do this then Kagome._'

Kagome saw him nod his head and she smiled and nodded in return. She then sighed as she turned her attention down at the prayer beads and then closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Once she began to concentrate while saying a prayer the rosary began to glow a light purple. Then soon the necklace slowly stopped glowing and once the glow completely disappeared Kagome let out a loud sigh before opening her eyes and looked down at the rosary.

She looked at Keade, "Did I do it right?"  
Keade waved her hand towards Inuyasha, "There's only one way to find out."  
Kagome suddenly felt her heart pound as she turned to look at Inuyasha and met his eyes before speaking softly, "You ready to see if this works?"  
Inuyasha swallowed hard before slowly nodding his head as he sat up, '_Yeah…I am._'

Kagome let out a shaky sigh as she while feeling her heart pound more nervously as she placed the rosary around Inuyasha's neck.

Inuyasha stared down at the necklace before slowly feeling his throat suddenly get warm. He tilted his head as he arched a brow in confusion, '_Is that a sign that it might be working?_'

"Inuyasha?" He heard Kagome say nervously snapping him out of his thoughts to look at her.

Kagome gulped as she held her hands together and said to him sounding hopeful, "Go ahead Inuyasha say something." '_Please, please let this work._'

Inuyasha gulped nervously as he opened his mouth somewhat expecting to hear himself bark but was surprised when he heard, "Ka-go-me." His eyes shot wide open when he had actually heard his own voice say the girl's name, "Kagome."  
Kagome gasped as she smiled brightly, "It worked!" She laughed out happily as she threw her fist up in the air, "Yes! It worked! He can finally speak!"  
Keade smiled, '_I knew it would. Kagome is getting stronger by the year. But this dog…_' She tilted her head at Inuyasha, '_There's something different about him. Something I can't place my finger on. But I know there's something strangely familiar about this dog._'

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER **

Heheheh YAHHH! I FINALLY FINISHED THE CHAPTER! Man and here I thought I would have to wait another night. But anyway I hope you guys liked the chapter. I know I did. Now next chapter is when Kagome and Inuyasha go off on their journey and Miroku and Sango finally leave the castle in search of their hanyou friend…and that's all I'm willing to say for now. Now I don't know when I'll update again but I hope it'll be soon.

Well see ya next time!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	5. a journey begins

Hey guys sorry for the late update. I've been working on other stories and…fanfiction as been a bit mean to me. But it's over and now I can update again! But I've also just been lazy. Okay enough of me babbling like an idiot and let's get to the next chapter!

**Chapter 5: A Journey Begins **

"Kagome." Inuyasha repeated again as he was so taken back when he heard his own voice once again. It seemed like it was too good to be true. He had to be dreaming this right? He wanted to pitch himself but remembered he had no fingers so instead he whacked himself in the head.

Kagome and Keade looked at him oddly as he whacked himself.

"Uh…what are you hitting yourself Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as she arched a brow.

Inuyasha winced slightly as he looked at her, "I just wanted to make sure this wasn't some weird dream or something."

Kagome chuckled lightly as she smiled at him, "Still think you are dreaming?"  
Inuyasha shook his head, "Nope not no more." He rubbed his paw against his head, "Man did that hurt! I completely forgot about my own strength."  
Kagome couldn't help but chuckle at her dog friend before lifting her fist up in the air, "Yes! Mission accomplished! This dog can _**finally**_ talk!" '_Meaning I finally did something right!_' She brought her fist down and leaned towards Inuyasha smiling proudly, "Isn't this great Inuyasha!"  
Inuyasha jerked at her sudden movement towards him but smiled nonetheless, "No it's not great…it's fantastic!" He let out a light grunt as he smiled at Keade, "Heh I guess it really was a good idea to come here."

Kagome tilted her head as she observed her dog friend's voice, '_Wow, for a dog he has a…very, very soothing voice._' She gasped softly as her eyes went wide slightly as her cheeks turned red.

She shook her head, '_What am I saying!?_' Kagome glanced down at Inuyasha, '_Especially when Inuyasha is just a dog!_'

She sighed as she pushed that thought in the back of her head before smiling at her aunt, "Yeah no kidding. You just made standing up to those villagers more worth it! Thank you so much Keade!"  
Keade chuckled warmly as she smiled, "Glad I was able to help."  
"Okay now that I can speak and everything…" Kagome and Keade turned their attention down at the white hanyou dog, he narrowed his eyes as he laid down on the floor again now looking up at Kagome, "Mind telling a bit more about that weird jewel you have?"  
"Oh!" Kagome said as she turned to face him, "Is that what you were fusing about before?"  
Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah, I want to know more about that jewel other than you being it's protector and that demons are after it."  
"Why?" They heard Keade step in catching their attention.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Do ye have a sudden interest in the jewel? Wanting it all for yeself just like the other demons?"  
"Keade!" Kagome scolded as she narrowed her eyes at her aunt, "Don't go jumping to conclusions like that!"

Keade turned her attention over towards her niece, "But Kagome I must if it means protecting ye! Ye are the only living relative I have!"

"I know." Kagome replied as she lowered her head slightly before saying loudly, "But that doesn't mean you get to treat him like he's the bad guy or anything, especially when you don't even know him!"  
"Neither do ye child." Keade reminded.

"I may not know him that well considering I found him two almost three days ago." Kagome began to explain before looking down at Inuyasha meeting his stare, "But I just have this feeling that he's good." Kagome whipped her head back towards Keade, "And didn't you and my mother tell me once that I should trust what I feel? Well I'm trusting what I'm feeling and it's telling me that I can trust him that he is good!"  
Inuyasha couldn't help but blush at her words but jerked his head when he noticed the blue jewel glowing a bright blue, '_Whoa why is that thing glowing?_' He glanced up at Kagome, '_Is it reacting to what she just said to the old woman?_'

Inuyasha sighed before deciding to interrupt the argument the two women were having, "Besides,"

Kagome and Keade looked down at him as they met his gaze as he narrowed his eyes, "Why the hell would I want a jewel that I barely know anything about?"  
"Well one can never be too careful, especially with ye being a demon and all." Keade replied wisely as she glanced at Kagome again, "Ever since my elder sister, Kagome's mother, had that jewel created my sister had always been chased by demons once they had heard about it. Wanting it for their own selfish needs." Keade sighed as she looked down at Inuyasha, "I'm sorry if I'm judging ye but…I must do what I can to protect my niece at any cost if necessary."  
Inuyasha sighed softly, "Yeah I understand that. But you must also understand that not all demons are bad. I mean come on what about Da- I mean Lord Inutashio? He's a demon and he's the most famous and respectful king that anyone has ever known."  
Kagome smiled softly as she turned her attention from him to Keade, "He does have a point Keade."  
Keade arched a brow at him noticing the little slip up that Inuyasha made.

"All I want is to know more about the jewel and hear what's the big with it that causes these stupid demons to come after it wanting it so badly." Inuyasha continued trying to reassure the old woman that he had no intention of going after Kagome, '_She's just a girl. A girl who saved me for crying out loud! So I basically owe her my life._'

"And you have the right to know about it." He heard Kagome say suddenly making him look up at her to find her smiling at him, "Especially when you are going to be traveling around with me."  
Inuyasha snorted, "Damn right I do!"  
Keade arched a brow as she watched the young prince, "Ye know…"

Kagome and Inuyasha looked over at her.

She tilted her head, "For a dog demon who's just giving the right to speak…ye speak quite well."  
Inuyasha snorted again as he narrowed his eyes slightly, "Well I _**am **_a demon if you haven't forgotten already." '_Okay so I'm half demon but she gets the main point._'

"But ye seem to talk normally just like a real human or being." Keade pointed out as she rubbed her chin.

Inuyasha jerked slightly before glaring at her, "Well I have been around humans long enough to know how they talk." '_What the hell am I saying? Heck why the hell am I evening lying!? Here I am able to finally speak and tell them my story and yet I lie and don't tell them! What is my brain trying to do to me?_'

Keade just stared at him trying to debate if she should believe his words or not. This whole thing felt a little…fishy to her.

Inuyasha shook his head pushing back those thoughts to the back of his mind before looking up at Kagome, "But back to the question at hand."  
Kagome turned her attention from Keade back down at Inuyasha and nodded her head, "Yes the question about the jewel." She sighed as she let her fingertips touch the blue jewel as she began to explain, "Well of what I know from what my mother told me this jewel was created by the combination of my mother's miko powers and a wizard's power."  
"A…wizard's power?" Inuyasha repeated, as he eyed her not liking the sound of that.

Kagome nodded, "The wizard was an old friend that her and my father met a long time ago."  
Inuyasha sighed in relief now knowing that it wasn't Naraku or anything, at least he hoped it wasn't.

"If someone were to hold this in their possession the jewel would combine it's own power with their own making, depending on the being, more powerful than they usually are."  
Inuyasha gabbed as he jerked his head back as he looked up at her with shocked eyes, "You…You can't be serious?"  
Kagome nodded, "I'm dead serious."  
"What the hell!?" Inuyasha said loudly as he narrowed his eyes, "Why would your mother go and create something like that!?"

Kagome shrugged, "I have no idea. My mother never gave me that knowledge. All I know is what it does and that I'm suppose to protect it and keep it pure."  
"Pure?" Inuyasha repeated arching a brow.

"Yes the jewel can become tainted or pure, depending on the being that holds it." Keade explained catching Inuyasha's eyes.

"How is that possible?" Inuyasha asked.

"Of what my sister had told me is that the jewel can become either tainted or pure depending on the heart of the being the possesses it." Keade informed wisely, "If the person's heart is good it becomes pure. But if the person's heart is evil or becomes evil the jewel is then tainted."  
"Is that because it's a combination of Kikyo's miko powers and that wizard's power?" Inuyasha asked.

Keade nodded, "Yes my sister's miko powers is what keeps it pure, but so does the wizard's power, depending on the being that holds it. But if the being's heart is evil the wizard's power becomes evil and overrides Kikyo's miko powers."

Inuyasha furrowed a brow, "So does it being pure or impure have some sort of impact on that being's power?"

Keade sighed as she shook her head, "I cannot say." She stared at Inuyasha, "Since every time I see it-it has always been in either in my sister's care or in Kagome's care." She glanced over at Kagome, "But of what I can tell so far it could have some sort of impact on the being's power."  
Inuyasha grunted as he looked up at Kagome, "Well I guess I can see why the demons would want that jewel so badly."  
"Why?" Keade asked as she began eyeing him again, "Do ye now have an interest in the jewel?"

Inuyasha growled as he shouted, "Dammit old woman stop getting on my case like that! I didn't say I had an interest!" He lowered his voice a bit as he glared at her, "All I am saying is that when it comes to power most demons, not including me, would do anything for it! Since that is what most demons ever want and that is power!"

Kagome grunted softly before looking over at Keade, "Just like the demon that murdered my family."  
Keade and Inuyasha looked over at her as she frowned, "He wanted to the jewel for is own gain in power. My mother wouldn't let him have it so she gave it to me sacrificing herself in order to protect me and the jewel."  
Keade sighed sadly remembering that exact situation, "Yes, that demon is a perfect example of what some demons are like when it comes to that jewel."  
Inuyasha sighed as he looked at Keade, "So I'm guessing that none of you guys know why Kikyo and that wizard created this jewel?"  
Kagome and Keade shook their heads, "No."  
"Like I told Kagome. That will be something that ye two have to figure out on ye own." Keade repeated herself.

Inuyasha sighed in frustration, "This could make things annoying."

"Imagine how I feel!" Kagome pointed out to him loudly catching his attention as she narrowed his eyes as she held up the jewel in her hand, "I'm the one who had been protecting this thing since my mother died when I was thirteen! Without any knowledge of why she had this thing created and what purpose it has!?"

Inuyasha stared at her in awe as he heard the anger in her voice.

She gripped her hand around the jewel making it look like she could break it into millions of pieces as she snarled, "And because of this stupid thing my life since then as been a living nightmare! First my family gets murdered! The villagers kick me out of my own village even though my mother had protected them and their village for years!"  
'_Kicked?_' Inuyasha repeated softly as his eyes went wide.

"Forcing me to live on my own for five years!" Kagome said continuing to snarl.

"Kagome." Inuyasha said her name softly as he frowned feeling bad for his miko friend.

Kagome continued to snarl in anger until Keade's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "Speaking of which Kagome…"  
Kagome looked over at Keade as the old priestess tilted her head, "Why did ye come back? Not saying I'm not happy, I am happy. But considering the villagers forced ye out when ye were only fifteen…"  
'_Fifteen!?_' Inuyasha repeated loudly in his head with wide eyes as he turned his attention from Keade up to Kagome, '_Kagome had been away for that long!?_'

"I thought ye would never return, especially with how they treated ye." Keade finished softly.

Kagome sighed, "Believe me Keade I wanted to come. I wanted to see you but…" She narrowed her eyes, "Just like you said I never wanted to encounter those villagers again!"  
"So then why did ye decide to return?" Keade asked again and then asked in concern, "Did something happen? Or was this just coincidence?"

Kagome sighed as she looked at Keade sadly, "Something did happen Keade." She grabbed onto her jewel again and gripped it tighter.

"Well child what happened?" Keade asked.

"He's back Keade." Kagome said softly as she lowered her head so her eyes were hidden behind her bangs.

"Mm? Who's back?" Keade asked as she tilted her head.

Kagome lifted up her head and glared at Keade, "The demon that murdered my family!"  
Keade gasped as Kagome began to panic, "He's back Keade! He's after the jewel again!"  
"Kagome, calm down child." Keade instructed the panicking girl.

"Calm down? Calm down!? How I can I calm down when that…that murderer just destroyed my third home!?" Kagome screeched out loudly as her heart continued to pound in panic.

Inuyasha jerked as he winced at her sudden screech, "Ah! Kagome! Don't screech like that!"  
Kagome gasped as she jerked to look at him giving him an apologetic look, "Oh I'm sorry Inuyasha!" She began scratching his ear as a way to comfort him, "Did I hurt your ears?"

Inuyasha tensed up slightly when he felt her hand rubbing his ear, which surprisingly felt good which made the pain in his ear subside making him relax slightly.

Inuyasha then started to feel his chest vibrate wanting to release a pleasant growl or purr. He quickly jerked his ear away catching the young girl off guard.

Inuyasha gulped as he tried to suppress a blush, "It's okay I'll live!" He then snorted once he got his pride back as he turned his attention away from her, "I am a demon after all!"  
Kagome couldn't help but chuckle at her hanyou dog friend, which just caused Inuyasha's cheeks to turn pink.

"But Kagome, ye have to stay calm." She heard Keade advise her catching Kagome attention, "Since if ye don't ye won't think straight and ye'll put yeself more at risk."  
Kagome let out a soft sigh knowing that the old miko was right, "I know Keade." Kagome sulked, "But I just can't help it! Just knowing that demon is out there somewhere, probably killing more people, and is now coming after the jewel once again I just can't keep myself calm!"  
Keade sighed softly, "I know Kagome. But remember what ye mother and I have taught ye. Ye must stay calm, especially during battle, since if ye don't ye won't be able to overcome the person or being that ye are fighting."  
Kagome nodded before narrowing her eyes as she grabbed the jewel necklace and tightened her grip on it, "I swear on my life that I will avenge my family and any other victims that he killed or made suffer and kill him." She then said loudly, "I swear I will not rest until I have finally killed Naraku!"  
Inuyasha's eyes shot wide open once he heard that name come out of the miko's mouth. Flashbacks from his encounter with Naraku flashed through his mind and shot right up on all fours and shouted, "Naraku!?"

* * *

Naraku smirked as he ran down the hall with half of the castle in flames with most of it's soldiers dead from trying to stop his brutal attack. Naraku had released some of his miasma causing some of the servants and guards to collapse and shortly die from the poison.

He chuckled when he reached his target, "Today's the day _**Lord **_Inutashio."  
Once he had reached Inutashio's chamber door Naraku used his magic to open the door brutally allowing himself to come in. As he walked in he smirked when he noticed Inutashio and Sesshoumaru standing in front of Inutashio's desk and glared at him as he walked through the doors.

"So you're the one that as been causing all this destruction." Sesshoumaru snarled lowly at the young woman, whom Naraku was still disguised as.

Naraku just smiled as he started to laugh.

Inutashio growled harshly at him, "Just who the hell are you!?" He then shouted, "And why the hell are you attacking my castle!?"  
Naraku just laughed as his body began to glow a dark red. When his body began to glow the shape and height of his body began to change. Inutashio and Sesshoumaru began to growl harshly as the familiar, disgusting scent reached their dog noses.

Once the glow faded Naraku finally appeared in his normal form.

"Missed me…Lord Inutashio?" Naraku asked the old lord in a mockery.

"Naraku!?" Inutashio and Sesshoumaru roared out.

* * *

Kagome and Keade stared up at the hanyou dog in shock at his sudden outburst.

Inuyasha let out a shaky breath as he stared down at Kagome with wide, yet, fearful eyes, "Did you just say…_gulps _Naraku?"  
Kagome nodded, "Yes, I did."

Inuyasha began to growl as he narrowed his eyes, '_**He's **__the one that murdered her family!? __**He's**__ the murderer that she had been talking about all of this time!?_'

"Why do ye ask?" He heard Keade say catching his glance, "Do ye know Naraku?"  
Inuyasha turned his head to look straight at her, "We're not friends if that's where you're going with this. We are far from friends!"  
"Then how to you know of Naraku?" He heard Kagome ask him hearing the surprise in her voice.

Inuyasha glanced down at her, "Because I have encountered him three days ago."

Kagome gasped, "Encountered him!?" She repeated softly as her eyes went wide.

She then grabbed Inuyasha's by the prayer beads and pulled him down in front of her causing the young prince to grunt as he was pulled on the ground almost directly on the girl's lap.

Inuyasha winced as he glared at her, "What the hell!?" He jerked when he met Kagome's own glare.

"How did you encounter him? I swear if you are on his side-"

Inuyasha growled as he said loudly, "I told you! I am not his ally! Him and I are enemies!"  
"Then how did you-"

"He was the one that attacked me three days ago!" Inuyasha explained loudly to the young miko, "You know the night you found me being chased by demons!"  
Kagome gasped as her eyes went wide and quickly released him, "You…You're not lying…are you."  
Inuyasha kept his eyes narrowed, "No! I'm not!" He then snarled, "I will never forget what that bastard did to me!"

Kagome frowned feeling guilty for suspecting him, "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha looked up at her and noticed her frown as she said softly, "I'm sorry."  
He stared at her before sighing as he laid his head in her lap relieved that she believed him, "Don't worry about it. I'm not the type to get hurt by a human."

Kagome smiled warmly at him and began stroking him, "Figured as much."  
Inuyasha hummed as he closed his eyes as he felt her fingers rubbing across his fur making him totally forget that he was slightly laying on her lap.

Kagome sighed pleasantly as she watched her dog friend breathe glad that he was forgiving her for her roughness. She was surprised at how she acted. She never usually acted like that. But just hearing the name Naraku brings anger and hatred into her heart and is really reckless when it comes to avenging her family.

Keade stared at the two in awe, '_Well this is a sight to see._'

Kagome's head jerked as a thought popped into her head. She stopped stroking Inuyasha causing him to grumble as he looked up at her.

She gave him a questioning look, "So…where did you encounter Naraku?"

* * *

Naraku continued to laugh at the two as the two dog lords stood there glaring at him.

"Why so surprised Inutashio?" Naraku asked mocking him as he smirked, "I told you that I would return and I have. So you should be thankful that I kept my word."  
Inutashio growled showing his fangs, "Naraku, you have a lot of guts to show up here like this, especially with there being two full demon lords here." He lowered his gaze slightly still glaring at him, "I will thank you for saving us the trouble of finding you but…" He growled out loudly as he charged towards him, "I will make you regret coming into my castle!"  
Naraku grunted still smiling as Inutashio unsheathed his sword making the move to slice Naraku right there. But Naraku was prepared for that and made his eyes glow red producing a red barrier around him making Inutashio slam against it shocking him before making him fly back crashing onto his desk breaking it.

Sesshoumaru gabbed softly as he stared down at his father as the poor demon lord grunted as he sat up while rubbing his head.

"Heh did you really think I would let myself get weaker?" He heard Naraku snort out.

Sesshoumaru growled as he glared back at Naraku as he crossed his arms, "Well sorry to disappoint you my sweet Lord Inutashio." He smirked as he narrowed his eyes slightly, "But I refuse to lose to you."  
Sesshoumaru grunted as he charged towards Naraku himself while unsheathing his sword as well. Naraku hummed as he noticed the young dog demon running towards him. As Sesshoumaru approached him about to slice him with his sword Naraku put up his barrier again causing Sesshoumaru to slam right into it causing him to fly back but luckily for Sesshoumaru he used his feet to slide on the ground preventing him from smashing into anything.

Sesshoumaru growled as the demon wizard, "You're such a coward Naraku. Hiding behind a barrier to keep yourself from getting hurt."  
Naraku just grunted as he smirked, "I'm just defending myself Sesshoumaru." He began to glow as he shouted, "So die!"  
The glow then expanded, as he shouted out those two words, across the room and made the chamber explode.

* * *

"Where did I encounter Naraku?" Inuyasha repeated watching the girl as she nodded her head, he sighed, "In the western lands." He arched a brow as he eyed her, "Why?"  
"The Western Lands?" Kagome repeated softly before gasping and saying loudly in panic, "But isn't that Lord Inutashio's territory!?"  
Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah? What of it?"

Inuyasha jerked his eyes lowering them and gabbed as he finally noticed that his head was right on her lap. His cheeks began to burn in embarrassment and quickly pulled away from her lap like she burned him. He quickly looked down at the floor trying to regain his normal "I don't care" poseur.

'_How the hell did I not notice that!?_' Inuyasha scolded himself before glancing at the girl, '_It's a good thing I'm a dog or else I'm sure Kagome would have slapped me for that…not that I care._'

Kagome narrowed her eyes and suddenly stood up causing Inuyasha to jerk out of his thoughts to look up at her.

"Kagome?" Keade said her name in slight concern and confusion not quite sure what her young niece would do.

"Then that's where I'm going!" Kagome announced to Keade before clenching her fists before saying loudly, "I'm going to the Western Lands!"  
"But Kagome, do ye even know how to get to there?" Keade asked Kagome not wanting Kagome to jump right into this without a decent plan.

"I know where North, South, East and West are." Kagome pointed out as she arched a brow while crossing her arms, "So finding the Western Lands shouldn't be that hard. All I have to do is find Lord Inutashio's castle and I know I'm there."  
"Do you even know what his castle even looks like?" Inuyasha asked catching her attention.

"Uhhh…well…"  
"You don't do you?" Inuyasha assumed with a slight grunt as he eyed her.

Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly, "Oh it shouldn't be that hard! All I have to look for is a huge building with pointy towers."  
Inuyasha let out a frustrated sigh as he closed his eyes, "It's not that simple."  
Keade and Kagome stared at their dog friend as he continued, "All the lands from North to the Western Lands all have castles." He reopened his eyes again to glance up at her, "And mostly all of those castles looked exactly the same."  
"How would you know?" Kagome asked as she raised a brow.

Inuyasha met her eyes, "I've been in all those lands and all the castles look alike."  
"Ye've seen them all?" Keade asked arching a brow as she tilted her head.

Inuyasha glanced at her and nodded, "Yeah, being a demon I travel a lot. So I've seen the lands from North to West to where I am now." He grumbled soft enough so the two women wouldn't hear him, '_Here I go again. Lying to them about my life._' He sighed, '_But I guess there's not much I can do about it now. Unless I want them mad at me._'He glanced up at Kagome, '_Maybe I'll tell Kagome the truth sometime in the near future._'

"But I have to at least try!" He heard Kagome's voice whine snapping him out of his thoughts to look up at her.

Kagome stared down at him holding her fists to her thighs, "This is the only lead I have had since Naraku murdered my family! I won't let this opportunity pass me by!"  
"Kagome." Inuyasha sighed out in frustration closing his eyes again, "I've been in those lands." '_Well somewhat._' "They're too dangerous for a young girl to walk into." He opened his eyes to glance up at her, "I think it would be a lot better if you stayed here."  
"Stay here?" Kagome repeated slowly with her eyes narrowed before shouting, "Are you out of your freaking mind!?"  
Inuyasha jerked back as he looked up at her in shock and surprise.

"Hush child!" Keade shushed quickly, "Ye don't have to be that loud."  
Kagome snorted acknowledging her aunt's comment but stayed focused on Inuyasha, "There is _**no**_ way I'm staying here in this village! You saw how these villagers treat me!"

Inuyasha grumbled as she reminded him of that, "Okay so don't. We'll find you another village where you could stay."  
"No!" Kagome argued loudly.

Inuyasha jerked again as he blinked in surprise before narrowing them as he began to growl at the girl, "Kagome!"  
Kagome's glare never faded it matched his own, "Sorry Inuyasha, but I'm not going to just stay put, in any village. Especially now knowing of where Naraku could be!"  
Inuyasha continued to growl, "Kagome, do you even realize of what you are up against!? A demon! A power hungry evil demon wizard! Who can probably tare you apart limb from limb!" He grunted as he continued to glare, "You don't stand a chance against him!"  
"I don't care!" Kagome cried out as her anger and despair made her eyes fill up in tears.

Inuyasha gabbed as he jerked back and immediately stopped crying when he smelt tears forming in the girl's eyes, '_Oh crap._'

Kagome fell to her knees and leaned forward leaning on her palms as she stared at the hanyou straight in the eyes causing the hanyou dog to flinch a bit.

Kagome glared at him, "I don't care if I don't stand a chance! I'm going to avenge my family one way or another, which means killing Naraku! I will kill him no matter what the cost!" She let out a soft sob as her glare faded, "Even if it means risking my own life for it!" She lowered her head as she sobbed out loudly squeezing her eyes shut, "I'll do anything to give Naraku what he deserves!"  
Inuyasha stared at the girl with wide eyes as he began feeling his own heart sink and burn up at the thought of a young woman willing to put that much on the line, just so she could avenge her family. He understood how she felt but…

"Besides," He heard Kagome say snapping him out of his thoughts to focus on her again.

She lifted her head up to stare at him again, "Even if I don't go after him…he'll come after me soon, because…" She grabbed the jewel again, "I'm protecting this…which is something that he wants more than anything."  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he glanced at the jewel and up at Kagome. He did that for a little while before narrowing his eyes and snorted as he turned his head away from her, "Fine go!"

Kagome smiled softly, "Thank you Inuyasha."

"But," Inuyasha spoke up suddenly causing Kagome's smile to fade as he turned his head back to face her with his eyes still narrowed, "I'm going with you!"  
Kagome blinked in surprise before asking, "Uh…but you were attacked by Naraku and you got hurt. Don't you think it would be best if you didn't come?"  
Inuyasha growled before saying loudly, "That's only because he caught me off guard! I wasn't prepared for his attack."

Kagome jumped back at his outburst.

He growled harshly as he looked down at the floor, "And I won't let him get away with this!" '_For turning me into a dog and for murdering your family!_' Inuyasha looked up at her giving her a determined glare, "I will not be coward! Since being a coward is not my style!"  
Inuyasha gave her a stern look, "I was planning on going after him anyway before I knew he was your enemy as well. So this works out perfectly for me." '_Now I won't have to change my mission since we both have the same goal and that…is to kill Naraku!_'

Kagome stared at him shocked at his words and smiled softly and said softly, "Well…I guess it would be okay for you to come along. I mean if you were heading that direction anyway might as well stick together right?"  
Inuyasha stared at her before nodded, "Yeah…right."  
She pointed at him, "And with you being a dog and have encountered Naraku already you probably know his scent right?"  
Inuyasha snorted as he narrowed his eyes, "I will never forget that bastard's scent!"  
Kagome chuckled at his reaction and clapped her hands, "Well then that settles it!" She smiled, "We are going have Naraku…together!"

* * *

The castle shook slightly from the impact of the explosion that came from Inutashio's chamber. Sango and Miroku yelped out as they held onto the wall.

"Damn another explosion!?" Sango cursed loudly before narrowing her eyes, "Just who the hell are we up against!?"  
Miroku grunted narrowing his eyes as he continued running down the hall, "Keep going Sango!"  
Sango jerked and yelled out, "Miroku!" She then started chasing after him.

Miroku panted as he ran down towards Inutashio's chamber, '_I can feel it. I can feel an evil aura just down this hall!_'

Sango grunted as she followed after him, "Miroku! Wait up!"  
Her eyes went wide when she suddenly heard a quick cheetah roar from the side of her. Sango slid to a stop to look over at her side to find a huge two-tailed cat demon.

Sango gasped, "Kirara!?"  
Kirara made a soft comforting noise signaling Sango to come near.

Sango ran over towards her and held out her hand as she stroked the two-tailed cat demon's face, "Are you okay?"  
Kirara glanced behind her.

"Mm?" Sango hummed as she followed her cat friend's gaze, "What is it?"

She gasped as her eyes went wide and ran over to her side, "Kohaku!?"  
There Kohaku was laying on her back with his face red.

Sango stared at her younger brother brushed her hand against her cheek which hot, she groaned, "He still has a fever." '_Oh Kohaku._'

She hummed when she heard an annoyed grumble coming from her brother as he squinted his eyes as he turned his face away from her wanting more sleep.

Sango couldn't help but chuckle in relief, "Good, he's only asleep."

She heard another comforting sound coming from Kirara.

Sango turned her attention from Kohaku to her cat friend and smiled, "Thank you for saving him. I don't know what I would do without you."  
Kirara smiled.

Sango continued to smile as she patted her back, "Okay now get Kohaku out of here! Try finding Lady Izayoi and Lady Rin and get them out of here as well!"  
Kirara nodded at her master's orders and quickly fly down the hall in the opposite direction of where Miroku and Sango came from.

Sango smiled down the hallway as she watched Kirara fly down the hall but narrowed her eyes as she quickly turned and continued running down the direction that Miroku went down.

"Don't do anything crazy until I get there Miroku!" Sango shouted out more to herself than anyone else.

* * *

Outside the castle beside the tower that Naraku just destroyed grumbles were heard under the piles of rumble from the tower.

"AH!" Inutashio yelled out as he pushed a piece of the tower's roof off of him.

He grumbled as he rubbed and rotated his arm, "Well that was new."  
His nose twitched when the smell of flames and smoke reached his nose. He looked up towards his castle and groaned when he saw that half of his castle was up in flames.

Inutashio growled as he narrowed his eyes up at the castle, "Damn that bastard!"  
"ARGH!" Inutashio's ears twitched when he heard that loud roar from under the piles of brick.

Inutashio looked over towards the sound as Sesshoumaru broke through the piles of brick that was on top of him.

"Sesshoumaru!?" Inutashio gabbed out as he ran over towards his side, "You okay son?"  
Sesshoumaru growled showing his fangs as he stood up as his eyes turned red, "That demon will not make a fool of me!"

"Sesshoumaru!" Inutashio said loudly as he grabbed onto Sesshoumaru's shoulder getting Sesshoumaru to look back at him, Inutashio narrowed his eyes, "We must stay calm. If we don't we will never be able to think straight."  
"Heheh yes it would be a same if you couldn't think straight."  
Inutashio and Sesshoumaru growled as they turned to glare at Naraku as he floated down onto the ground surrounded by his red barrier.

Naraku smirked, "It just wouldn't be any fun if you couldn't think straight."  
Miroku and Sango opened the door to Inutashio's chamber to gab when they saw the room completely topless even the walls were gone.

"Holy cow!" Sango gabbed as her eyes went wide.

Miroku grunted as he narrowed his eyes as he ran over towards the edge of the chamber floor.

"Miroku!" Sango called out as she followed him over towards the edge.

They both gasped when they spotted Inutashio and Sesshoumaru down on the ground facing an unknown man.

"Who is that?" Sango asked herself out loud as she arched a brow, "Of what the soldiers told us our enemy was a woman."  
Miroku narrowed his eyes, "Maybe it wasn't really the girl."  
"Huh?" Sango replied as she stared up at him.

Miroku stared down at his lords, '_That man…no demon as a very strong evil aura around him. Wonder who he is?_'

"Oh look there's Lord Inutashio and Sesshoumaru!" Rin pointed out to Izayoi as they rode on Kirara as the cat demon flew up in the air floating over the castle.

Izayoi looked down and gabbed when she saw Naraku standing in front of her husband and step-son, "No…Naraku!"  
"What!?" Rin gabbed out softly as she looked back at her mother-in-law while holding onto Kohaku in her lap, "Did you just say…Naraku!?"  
"You won't get away with this Naraku!" Inutashio shouted out at the demon wizard before gripping onto the hilt of his sword that was dug in the ground.

He pulled it out and aimed it at Naraku, "You will pay." He charged towards him, "You will pay for everything that you have done!"  
Naraku smirked in a cocky manner and just as Inutashio was about to slice him Naraku's eyes went dark red and out of the ground emerged a huge grass like hand grabbing onto Inutashio.

"Gah!" Inutashio grunted out in surprise.

Naraku chuckled, "Why don't I give you a hand…Inutashio."  
Inutashio growled at him and grunted out as he began struggling, "Damn you!" He began slicing the grass like arm only to have it regenerate around him and tightening it's grip around him as it pulled him into the ground.

"Father!" Sesshoumaru shouted as he ran up to his father and began slicing the grass hand trying to set his father free.

Naraku laughed, "Ha! No matter how many times you cut it-it will always regenerate! There's nothing you can do to stop it from moving!"  
Sesshoumaru growled and charged towards Naraku. Naraku jumped back just in time as Sesshoumaru's sword sliced into the ground.

He glared at Naraku, "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you…Naraku." Sesshoumaru then charged towards Naraku yet again.

Naraku smiled before his eyes shot wide open as they flashed a green color. Once his eyes turned green out of his body came a disgusting green smog.

Sesshoumaru's nose twitched as he got a whiff of it and grunted as he glared at Naraku, "Do you honestly think your body order will-"

His eyes went wide as he felt his body go numb and immediately fell on his knees.

"What?" Sesshoumaru gabbed in a soft whisper as he tried moving his body but failed as his body wouldn't budge, he narrowed his eyes as he growled out, "What the hell!?"  
"Hehehehehehe." Naraku laughed catching the young lord's glare as he walked up in front of him, "I made this smoke especially for you and your father, making you unable to move." He smirked, "You can't escape me."  
Sesshoumaru growled, "Damn you!"  
"GAH!" Inutashio yelled out catching his son's attention just as he was sucked into the ground.

"Father!" Sesshoumaru shouted out.

"Lord Sesshoumaru Lord Inutashio!" Rin yelled out with wide eyes in fear.

"Inutashio Sesshoumaru!" Izayoi shouted out as she felt her heart sink in fear.

Miroku and Sango looked up and gabbed, "Lady Izayoi Lady Rin!"  
Naraku hummed as he heard the others shout out to one another. He looked up and grunted, "Heh what a nice surprise." He smirked, "Well can't have them escaping now."  
Out of his body a tentacle burst through his flesh and aimed up towards Rin and Izayoi.

"Rin!" Sesshoumaru shouted up at her and his stepmother.  
Rin and Izayoi gabbed as they noticed the tentacle coming towards them.

Kirara glared and quickly flew to the side dodging the tentacle.

"Kirara Kohaku!" Sango called out in fear.

"Rin!" Rin looked down towards her husband as he glared up at her continuing to shout, "You and Izayoi get out of here now!"  
Rin gabbed before shouting out, "No! I'm not leaving you behind!"  
"Just do as I say!" Sesshoumaru shouted up at her, "I'll be fine!"  
"But Sesshoumaru!"

Rin gasped as another grass like hand emerged from the ground and grabbed Sesshoumaru and began pulling him in the ground like Inutashio.

She screamed, "SESSHOUMARU!"  
"LORD INUTASHIO! LORD SESSHOUMARU!" Sango yelled out.

Miroku gabbed almost willing to jump off of the tower, at least that's what he wanted to do but knew he couldn't, considering her would die before he could even get the chance to fight Naraku. He grumbled and looked over towards the side as something caught his eye.

He gasped when he saw Inuyasha's sword on the ground where Inutashio's desk was. Miroku quickly ran picked up the sword and stared down at it.

He narrowed his eyes, '_We only have one person left to turn too._' Miroku turned his attention up at Kirara and shouted out, "Kirara come down here!"  
Kirara made a confused sound as Sango looked at the young monk in confusion, "Miroku?"  
Miroku stared at her but glanced at Kirara as she quickly landed on the tower floor.

Rin was about to get off when Miroku pushed back on.

She met his glare, "Stay put Lady Rin."  
"No I won't!" Rin sobbed out, "I'm going to stay here with my husband!"  
"But Rin you can't! Lord Sesshoumaru would never forgive himself if you were to get killed by Naraku!" Miroku pointed out to her loudly, "We have to get out of here now!"  
"But where will we go Miroku!?" Sango asked loudly.

Miroku narrowed his eyes, "We have to find Inuyasha!"  
Sango gasped as he continued, "Finding him is the only chance we've got!"

"But…" They looked up at Rin as she asked softly in fear, "What if we can't find him? What if…what if he's-"

"No! Don't think that Rin!" Izayoi scolded her loudly causing the young woman to flinch as she narrowed her eyes, "I know my son is still alive! We just have to have faith!"  
Sango looked at Miroku as Rin and Izayoi talked, "You really think we can find him?"  
"Now don't go having second thoughts on me Lady Sango." Miroku replied as he narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly the tower began to shake causing Rin, Izayoi, Sango and Miroku to yelp out.

Miroku and Sango gabbed down at the brick floor as it began to crack.

Their eyes went wide as they met each other's eyes.

"Time to go!" Miroku said quickly as he hopped on Kirara's back while Sango did the same.

"Go Kirara! Go go go!" Sango commanded Kirara loudly and quickly.

Kirara nodded and quickly flew off of the tower just as it was about to collapse.

"NOOOO!" Rin screamed out making the notion to jump off but Izayoi grabbed a hold of her, "SESSHOUMARU!"  
Miroku winced now just because of Rin's scream but because of the pain he heard in her voice.

He looked at Sango, "Is there any place we can drop these three off? Somewhere where it's safe?"

Sango sighed as she lowered her head slightly, "I…I know of one place."

* * *

"Okay." Kagome said to herself as she placed her new handbag over her shoulder along with her barrel of arrows and her bow that Keade had given her.

She looked down at Inuyasha, "I think we have everything we need for our journey."  
Inuyasha nodded, "Good, then we should be on our way." He looked out at the exit, which was right next to Keade's hut, "We have to at least get a few miles in before setting up camp for the night." '_Though that's not really my style but she's still only a mortal woman. So she'll need to rest._'

Kagome stared down at him before nodding, "Yeah you're right." She sighed as she turned to face her aunt and smiled sadly, "Well Keade I guess…this is goodbye."  
Keade gave her a sad smile, "Have a safe journey child. Stay calm and stay strong."  
Kagome nodded, "Yes of course."  
"Hey! What are you still doing here!?"  
Kagome, Inuyasha and Keade hummed as they turned their attention towards the village as Makishi stood there glaring at them.

Makishi crossed his arms, "I thought you said it would just be for a minute!"  
Inuyasha growled at him showing his fangs making the huge man jerk back and opened his mouth to shout something out at him when he felt someone pull on his necklace.

"Inuyasha don't."

"Huh?" Inuyasha said softly as he looked up at Kagome to find her holding onto his prayer beads.

She narrowed her eyes, "Don't go wasting your time barking at him. He's not worth your breath."  
Inuyasha arched a brow, "Barking?"  
Kagome sighed as she turned away from Makishi, "Don't worry Makishi I'm leaving." She looked over her shoulder to glare at him, "And I promise you this time I will never ever come back here! So you and your stupid friends can live at peace just like you have always wanted!"  
Makishi jerked as he felt a cold chill from her glare.

Kagome's glare softened as she looked at her loving aunt one last time, "Bye Keade I'll miss you."  
Keade nodded, "I will too Kagome."  
Kagome closed her eyes as she began to walk out of the village. Inuyasha watched her before giving the notion to leave himself.

"Inuyasha?"

"Mm?" Inuyasha hummed as he looked back at Keade.

She gave him a sad frown, "Make sure to keep Kagome safe and out of harm. She's the only thing I have left in this world and I want her to live on. Since I know that's what my sister would want."  
Inuyasha stared at her before narrowing his eyes as he nodded his head, "You can count on me."

Keade smiled as Makishi gabbed as he jerked back before pointing at the hanyou dog, "Did…did that dog just talk!?"  
Inuyasha ignored him and kept his attention on Keade, "I'll make sure Kagome doesn't do anything stupid!"  
Keade just smiled at the young prince as he turned and chased after her niece, "I'm sure ye will Inuyasha." '_Or should I say __**Lord **__Inuyasha._'

* * *

Inuyasha stared up at Kagome as they walked down the path side by side as she continued to stare down the dirt road with a sad expression on her face.

He sighed while closing his eyes, "Kagome,"  
Kagome snapped out of her thoughts to look down at her dog friend as he reopened his eyes to stare up at her, "You shouldn't let those bastards get to you. They're not worth getting upset about."  
"I know." Kagome replied, "I don't let those jerks get to me."  
Inuyasha arched a brow, "Then what are you getting so upset about? If they are not the problem?"  
Kagome sighed as she looked down at him with guilty eyes, "I just hate leaving Keade. Especially when it's her own villagers, the one's that she helps treat, are always the ones that seem to chase me out of the village."  
Inuyasha sighed, "You're upset over that?"  
Kagome jerked before narrowing her eyes, "Hey! I just left a loved one behind! And she's probably feeling guilty for all of this!"  
"I doubt it." Inuyasha replied, "And besides it's not like she really had a hold on you to begin with. Especially now that you are practically an adult."  
Kagome stared at him as he continued to talk, "Even if you stayed there would have been a time when she would have had to let you go."  
He stared up at her, "Besides you'll see her again."  
"Didn't you hear what I said to Makishi?" Kagome reminded gruffly as she narrowed her eyes, "I said I wasn't ever going to come back!"  
"Oh you will." Inuyasha replied in a cocky snort, "Since if you really love your aunt that much you will come back." He tilted his head up at her, "And I'll make sure you come back in one piece." '_Since it is my main duty as a prince to protect my people, even if…they aren't really mine to protect._'

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

YES! I FINALLY UPDATED! -Sighs- There's a relief off of my shoulders. Now I have to update all my other stories on this site and on fictionpress. Anyway I hope you guys liked this chapter. I thought it was good. Now I don't know when I'll update again but I hope it will be soon or I'll try and make it soon. But I can't make any big promises.

See ya next time!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	6. on the road

OH man! I am so sorry for not updating for a while I've just been addicted to writing my other stories on fictionpress. Which I tell ya are getting really good at this point. But anyway so I'm back with another chapter and I hope you like it.

**Chapter 6: On the Road**

"AH!" A loud shout was heard at the bottom of the Western Castle in the dark creepy dungeon. In a cellar were Inutashio and Sesshoumaru and Sesshoumaru was trying to break through the bars but was failing.

"Damn it! What is with these bars!?" Sesshoumaru growled out angrily hating the fact that he had somewhat lost to a hanyou, "If that bastard Naraku was able to break through these bars than so should we!"

"Sesshoumaru if you would calm down…" He heard his father begin to lecture him.

The eldest son growled as he turned to glare at his father, "How can you say calm down when that bastard has us locked up in here while he's trying to take over your castle!?"  
Inutashio glared at him, "If you keep that attitude up you'll end up losing to Naraku anyway even if we did manage to get out of here." He sighed, "And I was going to say that if you would stay calm then you would notice that Naraku had put up a barrier around this cellar to keep us in here."  
"What!?" Sesshoumaru gabbed as he looked back outside of the cell and indeed saw that there was a barrier outside of the bars.

He growled, "Damn him to fucking hell!"  
"Seems Naraku has gotten a bit better with his magic." Inutashio pointed out more to himself than Sesshoumaru while remembering the past events.

"How can you praise him!?" Sesshoumaru shouted at the old lord as he glared at him, "Especially when he's about to take over this land!"  
Inutashio narrowed his eyes, "What makes you think I'm happy about this Sesshoumaru!? Because I'm not!" His son flinched slightly at his loud shout before grunting closing his eyes for a second before looking at him, "I'm just saying it might be a bit more trickier taking him down this time. I mean twenty years ago it was easy to get him considering he was just starting to work on his magic but now…"  
Sesshoumaru grunted hating the fact that his father had a point.

"Are you telling me we should give up?" The eldest son snarled at the older lord while narrowing his eyes.

The old lord kept his glare at his son, "No! That's not what I'm saying! We just have to figure out a way around this barrier."  
"And how do we do that?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"If there's a will there's a way." Inutashio encouraged the boy.

Sesshoumaru snorted in annoyance, '_He's such an optimistic guy that it's sickening._'

* * *

"Lady Sango?" Miroku spoke up gently catching the young woman's attention to glance back at him, "Where exactly are you taking us?"

"I know the perfect place where we can keep these three safe." The demon slayer informed the young monk motioning her eyes towards Lady Izayoi, Lady Rin and Kohaku. Kohaku was still sound asleep leaning his head against Miroku's back while Lady Izayoi and Lady Rin had lowered their eyes feeling sad at remembering what at just happened at the castle just a few moments ago.

"And that would be the demon slayer village." Sango continued as she turned her attention back to the front of her.

"The demon slayer village?" Miroku repeated her statement, "You mean the place you and Kohaku grew up in?"

Sango nodded, "Yes even though our parents and some of our fellow comrades were killed I'm sure the village and the other people in it are still there." She glanced back at them, "And I'm sure the others will keep these three safe."  
"I see." The young monk replied softly before looking over his shoulder at the three, "Then once we drop them off and get them settled…" He turned his attention back at Sango, "Then we should head out and try to find Inuyasha."  
The demon slayer nodded in agreement, "Agreed, then let's hurry."  
Lady Izayoi groaned as she listened into the younger woman and man's conversation as she looked hopefully at Kirara's fur, '_Inuyasha…I hope you are safe._'

* * *

"Ahhh." Kagome sighed out pleasantly as she stretched out her arms. She smiled up at the perfect clear blue sky, "Ah it's such a beautiful afternoon." '_It's almost like what happened earlier was just some horrifying nightmare._'

"Heh well are you the optimistic one." She heard her dog friend speak up. Snapping her out of her thoughts as she set her arms down while looking down at him.

Inuyasha met her eyes as he gave her a blank stare, "How can you be so cheerful considering of what you just went through?"  
"Well it's better than moping around feeling sorry for myself." The young priestess explained to the dog prince. She tilted her head, "If I were to do that I would never be able to move on smoothly with my life and I would end up missing out on things that are important in life."

Inuyasha just stared up at her with a stunned expression.

"Besides…" Kagome continued before shrugging, "If I stay optimistic things might turn from bad to good."  
"And what makes you so sure that would even happen?" The hanyou prince asked the young woman with a soft grunt.

"I met you didn't I." Kagome reminded the dog prince in a soft gentle tone.

"Huh!?" Inuyasha replied jerking his head back in surprise as his eyes went wide.

Kagome smiled warmly, "You are the first friend I have made since those villagers forced me out of the village." She tilted her head, "So just knowing that proves that things…are starting to look up for me."  
The young dog prince continued to stare up at her in awe, '_So…she sees me as a friend?_' He lowered his eyes, '_Wonder if she will still see me like that once I tell her the truth about me? Sure she might not be mad that I'm the prince but probably…because I lied to her._' He shook his head, '_What am I saying!? I'm not exactly…lying to her about myself. I just…don't think she needs to know about me at this point in time._'

"Also…" He heard the young girl speak up again snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up at her meeting her eyes once again, "I finally found a lead to my family's killer…meaning that I can finally get my revenge and that is another sign that things are looking up for me as well."  
Inuyasha growled softly as she reminded him of that, "And you still have no clue what you are going up against."  
"And _**I **_told you that I don't care." Kagome restated herself to him as she narrowed her eyes, "I'm going to slay Naraku no matter what it takes or what type of magical demon he is."  
'_What a stubborn fool._' Inuyasha grunted as he glared at her slightly while finding himself somewhat impressed with her strong determination.

"And besides if Naraku is in the Western Lands that can't be a good thing." The young priestess continued as she turned her attention down the path they were walking.

"Mm? How is that not good?" Inuyasha asked as he looked up at her.

Kagome looked down at him, "Well of what I heard from my mother that twenty years ago Naraku was captured by the Western Lands' King, Lord Inutashio and was sentence to death because he had murdered some of the lord's people just to increase his own magical powers." She lowered her head slightly continuing to stare at him, "And once he was sentence Naraku fought back and escaped the castle swearing that one day he would get his revenge on the Western Lands."  
Inuyasha stared up at her in awe, '_Whoa she knew that much? Heck some of that I didn't even know!_'

Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly, "And if Naraku manages to take down Lord Inutashio, the strongest lord alive, then that would mean the Western Lands, including all the other lands, will be in huge trouble."  
"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted as he turned his gaze away from her, "Like that damn bastard can even try to take down that lord!" '_There's no way that a puny demon like Naraku can defeat my father no matter how strong his magical powers are!_'

"I don't know." He heard the young woman speak up catching his attention as the priestess began rubbing her chin with her arms crossed, "Of what I've heard about Naraku from my mother he is pretty devious."

Inuyasha jerked his head as he remembered the night he was turned into a dog, '_Yeah…_' He looked down at the ground, '_That is true considering how he tricked me into coming out of the castle and managing to catch me off guard._'

"Not to mention that Naraku is a wizard." Kagome continued catching Inuyasha's attention again as she looked down at him, "A wizard who has a lot of demons on his side. So there could be a chance that Naraku could ambush the Western Lands."  
The dog prince gabbed as his eyes went wide, "You really think so?"  
The young priestess sighed, "Well considering of what I know about Naraku and considering he used demons to attack you does seem like something that he would do don't you think?"

Inuyasha hummed taking in what the young woman said, "Yeah…that is…a very good point."  
"Wait!" He said suddenly as he quickly turned his head to look up at her again catching her eyes, "You know all this yet you still want to take down Naraku?"  
Kagome groaned in frustration as she rolled her eyes, "For the third time yes!" '_Just how many times is he going to ask me that!?_'

"Heh I must say you have a lot more guts than most women have." Inuyasha pointed out praising the young woman in a slight grunt.

"You've met other people?" Kagome asked the young dog prince finding his statement a bit odd.

Inuyasha jerked realizing what he just blurted out and quickly said, "Well I do travel a lot so I do see and observe people whenever I get the chance!"  
Kagome stared at him while tilting her head taking in what he said, '_Why am I getting the feeling he's hiding something?_' She then sighed as she shook her head deciding to let that thought slip into the back of her mind, "I guess that would make sense."  
Inuyasha sighed in relief when he heard that she believed him.

**GRUMBLE-GRUMBLE-GLOB**

Kagome gasped as she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard the growl from Kagome and looked over at her and saw her expression as she held her stomach.

He grunted, "Hungry I'm guessing?"  
Kagome turned her gaze to him and chuckled lightly, "Yeah…I guess I am. I haven't eaten anything all day."  
**GRUMBLE-GRUMBLE-GLOB**

Inuyasha grunted as his eyes went wide while his own cheeks turned light pink in embarrassment as he lowered his eyes to the ground.

Kagome heard and couldn't help but chuckle, "Hehe I guess I'm not the only one."  
Inuyasha snorted as he narrowed his eyes trying to hide his embarrassment, "Okay okay so I'm hungry too." He sighed, "Which means we should probably stop and hunt for something."  
"Or we could just go fishing." He heard the young priestess suggest.

He hummed as he looked up at the woman to spot her stopping as she pointed to the right side of her, "Since we are approaching a stream."  
"Huh?" Inuyasha replied as he looked to where she was pointing and was surprised to see that they really were approaching a stream, "Heh well what do you know."

"Come on!" He heard the young priestess cheer out to him catching his attention. He spotted Kagome waving her arm as she began stepping towards the stream.

Inuyasha just grunted as he followed her.

The young girl set her bag on the grass and placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at the stream, "So…"  
She looked down at Inuyasha catching his eyes as he looked over at her, "How many do we need to catch?"  
"Well that would all depend on how hungry you are." Inuyasha pointed out to her with a blank expression.

"Hmmm." Kagome hummed as she began rubbing her stomach now staring down at the stream, "At this rate I could eat three."  
Inuyasha sighed, "Well then I guess we'll have to catch six since up for three fish myself." He looked at her, "Not to mention it would be something quick since I want to get a few more miles in before setting up camp for the night."  
Kagome nodded in agreement, "Agreed." She looked back down at the stream and clapped her hands, "Then let's catch some fish!"  
The young prince watched the young girl as she carefully walked into the stream before following her.

"Ohh this feels good." Kagome said out loud more to herself than Inuyasha as she looked down at the water, "Perfect for fishing."

"Heh it's just water." Inuyasha snorted with a blank expression.

Kagome looked back at him, "Yeah but if it's cold it would be harder to catch fish." She sighed as she looked away from him, "Though I doubt you would have a problem considering you have fur."

Inuyasha flinched before she looked back at him while pointing a thumb at her, "But unlike you I don't so I get cold easily."

The dog prince grumbled, '_Guess I can't argue with that._'

Kagome looked back down at the water and watched the water looking for any fish and positioned herself to catch one. Inuyasha did the same thing but only he had his mouth ready considering that was the only thing he could use to grab anything.

Inuyasha's eyes jerked open when he spotted a fish right under his nose. Using his quick reflexes dunked his head into the water and quickly grabbed the fish with his sharp fangs and once he had the fish and raised his head from the water and tossed the fish over on the shoreline.

"Whoohoo nice catch Inuyasha." He heard the young priestess praise him catching his attention as she smiled at him, "That was a pretty big one."  
Inuyasha just snorted, "Which is why I caught it."

Kagome just let out a light chuckle before turning her attention back down at the water and at that moment spotted a fish. Quickly she dropped her hands into the water and was able to catch the fish before it would swim away from her. Once she had the fish in her hands she brought her arms up from the water and started squeezing the fish suffocating it making it stop wiggling. A few seconds after doing that the fish dropped dead and once she knew it was dead she tossed it to the shoreline next to Inuyasha's wiggling one.

Inuyasha watched and stared at the two fish before looking back at her, "So…" He caught her attention, "I take it you have fished before."  
"Well duh." Kagome replied as she placed her hands on her hips, "Which is why I suggested fishing. If I wasn't use to it I wouldn't have suggested it."

Inuyasha jerked before narrowing his eyes, "Hey I was just asking you didn't have to be a smartass about it."  
"I wasn't. I was just saying." Kagome defended herself softly. She then tilted her head as she arched a brow at the dog, "You know…have you been able to talk before?"  
"Mm?" Inuyasha hummed as he flinched slightly at her question.

"Because now that you can talk I've been noticing that you do speak quite well for a dog that use to not be able to talk before and could only bark and growl." Kagome pointed out to him.

Inuyasha grunted as he turned his eyes down towards the water before snorting and closed his eyes, "Just keep fishing!"  
"Hm?" The young priestess hummed as she watched her dog friend quickly dunk his head into the water again and toss another fish over towards their little pile, '_Guess he doesn't want to talk about it. But…why?_' She tilted her head, '_Why would he not want to talk about it? Maybe…could there be a chance that maybe…Inuyasha wasn't always a dog? If so…how? How could he have turned into a dog?_'

"_**Did you just say…gulps Naraku?"  
"He was the one that attacked me three days ago!"**_

Kagome gasped softly at that memory and looked down at the water, '_Was it Naraku that could have changed him into a dog or maybe even prevented him from talking? But why?_' She glanced at Inuyasha, '_Why would Naraku even bother to attack him?_' She sighed as she shook her head, '_I'll think about this later._'

After a few minutes the duo finally caught their three fish and were now cooking them on a fire next to the stream.

"They should be done shortly." Kagome informed her dog friend whom laid down across from her.

The dog prince snorted, "Good because I'm really starving!"  
Kagome chuckled lightly, "Same here." She hummed and smiled as she took a fish stick and smiled over towards Inuyasha, "Well dig in."  
With that said she took a bite out of her fish and hummed pleasantly, "Hmm yum! This fish is really good!"  
"Heh then I guess we caught good ones." Inuyasha grunted as he moved his paw to take one of his sticks but quickly stopped remembering that he didn't have a hand anymore. He grumbled, '_Damn it all. So how am I suppose to grab it? I can't use my mouth or I'll end up getting my nose and faced burned._'

"Mm?" Kagome hummed as she turned her attention over towards her dog friend who was still trying to figure out how to grab his food. She also noticed that he had his paw held out looking like he wanted to grab it with his paw and she noticed the troubled look in his eyes.

The young priestess sighed as she decided to help her new friend and took the stick he was trying to grab catching his attention. Inuyasha growled and was about to complain thinking she was taking his food but immediately shoved it when she set the stick on the ground in front of him.

"There you go." He heard her say making him raise his head up at her to watch her smile and tilt her head, "If you were having trouble you should just ask."  
"Hm?" Inuyasha hummed as he moved his head back slightly.

Kagome turned her attention back at her fish, "Now eat up before the fish get cold or in some cases burned."

The dog prince just hummed as he turned his attention down at his fish before grunting as he began eating before mumbling, "Thanks."  
Kagome just smiled before continuing to chow down on her fish, '_But ya know…this is all kind of weird._' She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, '_He made it look like he was going to grab it with his paw like it was a hand. But then…he paused like he realized he couldn't just grab it. Could that possibly mean that he could have been human at one point?_'

Kagome shook her head focusing back at her fish, '_This is really none of my business if he wants to keep it to himself then I'll let him._'

* * *

"Heh well looks like those two made a quick friendship." A voice grunted out as he glared at his mirror that was being held in the hands of a little white girl child.

The white child looked up at her master, "What do you intend to do…Master Naraku?"

Naraku smirked as he sat in Lord Inutashio's throne bones were scattered everywhere in the throne room and it was dark and gruesome and more to the evil wizard's liking.

"We'll just have to end their friendship or just destroy them either way works for me." Naraku told the white child, "But let's test their strength first shall we?"

"I've been dying to see how strong Kikyo's daughter has gotten since the last time I saw her when she was only thirteen years old." Naraku told the white girl.

* * *

"Look, below us." Miroku spoke up to Sango as he pointed down below them.

They were now approaching a huge village surrounded by a huge wooden fence, which made it impossible for anybody walking below to see the village. By the wooden gate were two towers on each side of the gate with two pairs of men at each tower.

Sango smiled at the village softly, "I'm…" She lowered her head slightly, "I'm finally home."

"Mm?" The young monk hummed as he glanced at her before looking back down at the village, "So are you implying that village is yours' and Kohaku's home?"  
The female slayer nodded before letting out a soft breath, "Yes…this is where Kohaku and I were born and raised." She then rubbed Kirara's fur, "Let's see our old friends shall we?"

Her huge demon cat nodded before carefully landing in front of the village gate.

"Halt!" They heard a man shout out to them causing Rin and Kohaku to wake up slightly.

Sango and Miroku looked up as a man looked down at them, "Who are you people and what do you want?"

Sango hopped down from Kirara and smiled as she walked up in front of her with her hands on her hips, "Has it really been that long that you don't recognize me Sano!?"  
"Mm?" The man named Sano hummed as he jerked his head back before shouting, "How do you know my name?"  
Sango sighed as she lowered her head with her eyes closed, '_Have I really changed that much?_' She then raised her head to look up at him and called out, "I'm Sango! Remember I was the village headman's daughter!"

"What!?" Sano gabbed as his eyes went wide at that name and leaned more over the railing of the tower to get somewhat of a closer look at her without falling out of the tower and gasped when her face clicked in his mind, "S-Sango? Is…is that really you?"

The young demon slayer held up her arms as she smiled, "In the flesh oh!" She looked back at Kirara, "And I brought Kirara and Kohaku back with me as well along with some of my friends."  
The man gabbed before quickly turning to his men, "Open the gates! Sango and Kohaku have returned!"  
His fellow comrades gasped but quickly nodded their heads and began cracking up the gate allowing them in.

Sango just smiled as the gate opened and walked in with Kirara and Miroku following in after her.

"Sango!?"  
"Lady Sango!"

The fellow villagers shouted out greeting her happily as she approached them and all giving her a warm welcoming embrace. Sango sighed warmly relieved that they all were happy to see her and returned all of their embraces.

"Wow." Rin spoke up as Miroku helped her down from Kirara's back and set her on the ground so the young monk could help Lady Izayoi down, "There sure is a lot of demon slayers here."  
"I guess it's to be expected." She heard Miroku respond getting her attention, "There are a lot of demons around these lands so I'm guessing they need as many demon slayers as they can get to keep all the demon attacks down to a minimum."  
Rin sighed as she looked back at Sango and her fellow villagers, "I guess that would make sense."  
"Oh it's so grateful that you and Kohaku made it back to us." An old woman exclaimed happily as she smiled up at the young woman.

"Yeah…" Sango replied smiling softly, "I'm glad too. Though I wish Kohaku was able to get up." She glanced over her shoulder at her younger brother who groaned as he went back to sleep once he saw where they were, "But he's been sick for a couple days now."  
"Well that would explain why he hasn't come up to us to give as a greeting." A man chuckled as he turned his smile from the young boy to Sango, "Guess it can't be helped."  
Sango chuckled lightly, "No I guess it can't."

"So what took you so long to get back?" A younger looking man asked the female slayer catching her attention, "You made us believe that you and Kohaku were dead!"  
"Yes, where have you been if you have been alive for this long?" A young woman spoke up to Sango in concern.

Sango sighed softly as her heart felt heavy feeling guilty for not returning to relieve the villagers, "I am so sorry you guys." She tilted her head, "But once Kohaku and I escaped the demon that killed our parents and fellow comrades we ended up in the Western Lands. That was when we met up with Lord Inutashio and he gave us shelter and we began working there to repay him for his kindness towards us."  
"Lord Inutashio huh? I see…you two made a good choice with staying with him." A older man replied as he smiled while tilting his head, "That old King is very great one, even if he is a demon."

The young demon slayer just smiled warmly, "Yeah don't I know it."

"So why did you decide to come back?" A middle aged woman asked Sango before waving her hands when Sango met her eyes, "Not saying I'm not happy I am happy. I'm just wondering if you really lived such a nice life with Lord Inutashio…" She tilted her head as she arched a brow, "Then why did you come back here?"

Sango let out a soft breath remembering the reason why they came here, "Well…"  
"Our castle was attacked." Izayoi stepped in catching their attention.

The villagers gasped, "Lady Izayoi!?"

"Your castle was attacked?"

Izayoi appeared next to Sango with her hands held together like she was praying and nodded her head in response, "Yes."

"Who? Who would dare attack your castle!?" One of the men asked her angrily already despising the being that dared to attack them.

"A demon wizard known as Naraku." Sango informed her fellow villagers.

"Naraku!?" The villagers gabbed out as their eyes went wide in shock.

"_**He **_was the one that attacked you!?" A village man asked the group in shock and concern.

"Yes." Rin replied as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists as she looked at the ground angrily, "I will never forget a face who took my husband away from me!"  
Izayoi looked over at the young woman before grunted as she looked at her sadly in a sympathetic manner and began rubbing her back as a way to comfort her.

"Do you villagers know of Naraku?" Miroku asked the village folk as he walked up on the other side of Sango.

The villagers narrowed their eyes.

"Who wouldn't have heard of such a foul creature?" A middle aged man scowled out angrily in disgust, "That one demon alone have killed tons of villages just to increase his own strength! Now that is what I find unforgettable or forgivable!"  
Miroku narrowed his eyes as he grunted in disgust, "Heh looks like Naraku has kept himself busy these last twenty years."  
"Yes, in the most disgusting manner I have ever heard of." Sango scowled as she clenched her fists.

"But I just don't get it!" They heard Rin speak up suddenly in disgust confusion getting the crowd to look at her. She crossed her arms as she tilted her head, "How could a demon like Naraku could have possibly gained by killing those villages? Especially if they were just normal human villages?"  
"Well of what I've studied…" Miroku began his explanation as he stared back at Rin, "Depending on the wizardry a wizard can gain power by taking the life forces of other beings."

"Yeah but wouldn't Naraku get more benefits if he'd go after demons rather than humans?" Sango asked the monk as she arched a brow.

Miroku shrugged, "Well maybe he had no choice but to use the life forces of humans." He crossed his arms, "Either that or he was really desperate to have power."  
Sango sighed as she crossed her arms, "Either way we have to take down Naraku before he causes anymore damage…to anything or anyone."  
"Do you want us to help you with that Sango?"  
"Mm?" Sango and Miroku hummed as one of the male villagers spoke up suggesting their assistance.

"Is that why you came back after all this time away? You need help defeating Naraku?"

Sango sighed, "Well right now…" She placed her hand on Miroku's shoulder and smiled at her villagers, "Lord Miroku and I want to go out searching for Lord Inuyasha."

"Lord Inuyasha? Wasn't he at the castle as well?"  
"No fortunately he wasn't." Miroku informed them before sighing, "But the thing is Lord Inuyasha as been missing for practically almost three days now."  
"Oh my!"  
Sango nodded, "So we need to search for him since we are both getting the feeling that Lord Inuyasha is still alive."  
"I see. So then why…"  
"But the thing is we can't afford to take Lady Izayoi, Lady Rin and Kohaku with us." Sango continued to explain, "Which is the main reason why I came back. Was to drop these three off so Lord Miroku and I can be on our way to search for the missing prince."  
"Ahhh I see."

"I want you guys to keep these two safe along with taking care of Kohaku since I won't be able to while we are out searching." Sango continued to ask them, "I know this seems a little much considering I just arrived back after a few years before deciding to come back. But I really need your guys' help."  
"Oh of course we will help."

"Yes don't go giving it a second thought! Why wouldn't we help one of our own?"  
Sango smiled warmly, "Thanks you guys."

"But before you go…" Sango tilted her head as an older woman appeared in front of her and smiled, "Why don't you restock yourselves up before heading off. Since I'm sure you'll be needed some of our supplies on your journey."  
Sango bowed her head grateful for the kindness, "That would be more appreciative."

"Then come come let's get you with your supplies shall we." The old woman told the young demon slayer as she began walking off making Sango stare at her before chuckling as she began to follow.

But immediately stopped.

"Oh what beautiful hands you have and the lines tell me that you will be blessed with many children." She heard a familiar male voice speak up in a happy tone.

Sango growled as she looked back to find Sango holding a hand of one of the younger women in her village.

"Uhhh…" The young woman started not really sure of what to say.  
"Miroku!" Sango hissed out loudly before grabbing him by the ear and dragging him with her.

"Owowowowowowow!" Miroku yelped out loudly, "Sango let go!"  
"Not on your life you damn pervert!" The young slayer snorted angrily at the monk before glaring at him, "There is no way in hell I will let you roam around here by yourself! I don't want you womanizing with _**my **_villagers!"  
The young monk groaned in disappointment, "You're so cruel Sango."  
Sango just grunted in annoyance.

"Wow Sango's gotten a bit more rougher since she was here last." One of the male villagers observed with a soft wince.

"Well the monk deserved it." Rin told the older man with a soft grunt while crossing her arms, "Considering the monk can be a bit of a pervert."  
The men glared at him.

"Well then I'm glad he ain't staying here."

* * *

"Man!" Kagome suddenly said as she stretched out her arms as her and her dog friend began walking again and lowered her arms to her side, "Those fish really hit the spot."

"Yeah so that should do us until we finally make a stop for the night." Inuyasha replied keeping his attention on the dirt road.

"Yeah I'll be good until then." The young priestess reassured her young dog friend as she rubbed her stomach before smiling down at him, "My stomach's use to not eating all that much."

The young prince grunted, "Yeah I could imagine considering it was hard for you to even get out of the barrier you had up. Though even when you had to go out you end up getting attacked which could end up ruining you getting anything to eat."

Kagome nodded smiling weakly, "Yep that's how it basically was."

Inuyasha just stared up at her with an arched brow, '_Amazing that she even survived by herself this long. I'm sure any other human would have died by now. I guess that proofs that she really is Kikyo's daughter._'

* * *

"Hehehehehehehehehehe." A dark laughter was heard in the shadows of the forest. A huge snake like demon with dark purple eyes and raptor like claws slithered between the trees carefully watching the young priestess and the dog prince walk further into the woods.

"Hehehe finally found them." The snake demon hissed out happily. His eyes drifted over towards the priestess and smirked when he took notice of the blue jewel, "And that must be the jewel that white child told me about."

He then began to laugh with excitement, "It's so powerful! I can feel it from all the way over here."

The snake demon continued to laugh as he quickly moved towards the two, "Not only will I get the jewel I will also get two tasty meals as well!"

* * *

Inuyasha's ears perked up when he heard something in the distance.

He began to growl as he slowly narrowed his eyes, '_Man! That smells horrid!_' He crinkled up his nose at the stench, '_Almost smells like rotten eggs!_' He looked over towards the trees on Kagome's right side where the smell was coming from, '_I also don't like what I'm sensing either._'

"You feel it too I gather." The young prince heard his female friend speak up catching his attention.

He watched her as she slowly took out an arrow from her little barrel hanging on her shoulder and carefully placed it in her power as she glared over towards the direction he had been looking.

Inuyasha grunted as he turned his attention back over towards the trees, "Not only to I sense it…I smell it too." He crinkled up his nose again in disgust, "And it's the most disgusting scent I've ever smelled in my life."

Kagome took in what her dog friend told her as she slowly brought back her bow's string along with the arrow aiming it towards the trees.

"Come on out demon!" Kagome shouted firmly, "We know you are there!"  
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She heard her dog friend speak up loudly in an angry tone.

She glanced down at him to find him glaring at her, "Why don't you just shoot at it while it's off guard!? Why are you telling it we know he's there!?"  
"Because the demon could just be passing by with no intention of harming us." Kagome pointed out to him.

Inuyasha grunted, "I highly doubt that." He tilted his head up to glance at her, "No demon just _**passes **_by when it comes to two free meals that look like an easy catch."  
"Well you're a demon aren't you?" Kagome reminded him causing him to jerk slightly, "And you were just passing by when Naraku and those demons attacked you. So don't you think there'd be other demons like that?"

"Well…" He narrowed his eyes giving her a firm look, "I'm not like other demons and again those damn demons caught me off guard."

Suddenly a swish was heard causing the two to stop their little argument and looked over towards the trees jerking themselves into a fighting position ready to attack whatever it was that was in the woods.

"I think that was the demon." Kagome pointed out to the young prince.

"I figured that much!" Inuyasha replied loudly as he glanced from one side of the woods to the other, "But it moved!"  
"Yeah…" The young priestess replied as she too began glancing around, "I don't feel it's presence all that clearly. Which means that sound was it moving."  
"Yeah so keep your guard up Kagome." Inuyasha instructed the young woman firmly as he positioned himself ready to pounce on the demon while glancing around looking for it.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Kagome told him not bothering to look at her dog friend.

Inuyasha began sniffing around searching for the horrid stench that he smelled from the demon, '_It's still here! I can still smell it. But…where…_'

Kagome had lowered her bow but kept a firm grip on it so she'd be ready to attack if needed, '_The demonic energy…it's coming…closer? But…_' She began moving her head around, '_I don't see it. Did it maybe hide itself in the shadows waiting for us to drop our guard? Or did it, like I said, just have been a demon passing by no really interested in hurting us?_'

"Mm?" The priestess hummed before lowering her eyes to look at the ground, "What's this?" '_The energy…it's…circling us!_'

Inuyasha brought his nose to the ground catching the scent from the ground, '_What?_' He raised his head a bit as he raised a brow, '_The scent is coming from the ground?_'

The ground underneath them began to rumble catching their attention.

"What?" Inuyasha said softly with his eyebrow still raised confused by the commotion.

"Is it an earthquake?" Kagome asked loudly to herself and Inuyasha as she stared at the ground with wide eyes.

Inuyasha raised his head to stare at the trees and arched a brow in confusion when he noticed that the trees weren't even moving, '_Wait this isn't an earthquake! Or else the trees would be shaking and the animals would be scattering all over the place in panic._' He narrowed his eyes slightly trying to figure out what was going on, '_Then what the hell is going on?_'

Just then his eyes suddenly went wide as the solution clicked in his head, '_Shit._'

The young dog prince quickly turned to face Kagome and moved towards her shouting, "We have to get off the ground now!"  
"Huh!? AH!" Kagome replied before letting out a sharp yelp as she looked over towards her dog friend only to feel her body get pushed onto something white and furry and that furry thing then jumped.

Kagome raised her head up to look over towards the head to realize that she was slightly laying on Inuyasha's back.

"Inuyasha?" The young priestess said his name softly in confusion.

Her head suddenly jerked when she heard something crumbling out of something. She looked over towards the sound just as Inuyasha landed on a tree branch and looked to where they once stood. The snake demon had just emerged from the dirt with a loud hiss of displeasure.

The priestess gasped, "A snake demon!?" '_This is the first time I've seen a snake demon that large dig through the ground without much notice!_'

"That's the demon we've been sensing earlier!" She heard her dog friend pointed out to her loudly.

Kagome looked over at him to meet his golden amber eyes with wide eyes, "That's the same demon?"

Inuyasha nodded his head.

The priestess looked back down at the snake demon as it glared up at them and jerked when she sensed the demon's energy, '_He's right! That is the same demon!_'

The young prince narrowed his eyes, "Still think that demon was just passing by with no intention of hurting us? Considering it was _**trying **_to attack us just now!"  
Kagome grunted as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Okay okay you don't have to rub it in!"  
"Are you two finished!?" They heard the snake hiss loudly interrupting them to turn their gazes from each other to the snake.

He then slithered towards the tree while shouting out with a loud hiss, "Because I'm going to eat you!"  
"I can see you try!" Inuyasha shouted out at him with a soft growl challenging the snake.

"Inuyasha separate!" He heard the young woman shout out.

"Huh?" Inuyasha replied as he looked over at her arching a brow just as Kagome jumped out of the tree. He gabbed as his eyes went wide before shouting out, "Kagome!"  
"Pay more attention to your own life mutt!" He heard the snake demon hiss out to him.

Inuyasha looked over towards him and jumped out of the tree just as the snake clawed the tree branch snapping it off.

"Heh like a slow demon like you can even catch me!" Inuyasha snorted out cockily giving the snake a blank look.

"A talking dog? How weird." The snake hissed as it glared at him before crawling over towards the young prince, "But I will still rip you to shreds!"  
"Just you try it!" Inuyasha replied before crunching down and pounced towards him and clawed him right across his cheek.

"AHHHH!" The snake hissed out loudly in pain before growling as he watched the dog prince fly pass him, "You'll regret that!"  
Inuyasha jerked his head over towards the snake's tail as he noticed it moving from the corner of his eye. He was about to jump aside when an arrow hit the tail purifying it.

The snake demon yelled out in pain quickly moving his tail away from the dog prince to took a look at his tail before huffing as he glared over towards Kagome.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha gabbed out as he saw her standing there with another arrow already in her bow.

"You forget your fighting two of us!" Kagome pointed out loudly in a firm tone as she glared at the snake demon, "And I'm not one to take lightly!" As she said that she released her arrow aiming it at the demon's head.

The demon noticed and quickly moved his upper body making the arrow missed and charged towards the young priestess, "You will pay woman!"  
Kagome quickly got another arrow prepared but wasn't fast enough and only got the chance to jump to the side just as the demon drew out his claws and clawed her side slightly ripping the side of her kimono.

"AH!" Kagome yelped out slightly before wincing as she held her side.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted out before glaring at the demon before leaping towards him, "You bastard!" He clawed the demon on his side while shouting, "Your opponent is me!"  
"GAH!" The snake yelped out in pain before turning to glare at the dog before hissing out, "On contrary you aren't just _**my **_opponent!" He then forced his raptor claws towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha on the other hand noticed and quickly jumped out of the way just as the claw dug into the dirt.

The young prince then shot up towards the snake shouting, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

"Heh you really think you little claw trick will work on me!?" The snake demon shouted out with a light chuckle making the motion to claw him in half with his own claws.

He then gabbed as his eyes went wide and suddenly yelled out in pain as he began to get purified and vanished into a pile of dust.

"Huh!?" Inuyasha replied as he landed on the ground where the snake once stood to find Kagome with her bow up which was aimed to where the demon was.

"Nice shot Kagome." The young prince complemented with wide eyes, '_Not to mention quick thinking on her part._'

The young priestess sighed as she lowered her bow, "Well it was all thanks to you for distracting him so I could get my shot at him. Though I doubt that was really your intention."  
"No it wasn't but hey you won't hear me complain about it." Inuyasha reassured her.

Kagome hummed as she smiled warmly at him before sighing sadly as she held up her jewel and stared down at it, "But you know…"  
Inuyasha tilted his head up at her noticing the sudden seriousness in the young woman's voice.

"Something tells me that demon was after this jewel. Considering that demon was a pretty weak one." Kagome told him her opinion about the situation.

The dog prince grunted, "Wouldn't doubt it." His nose jerked when he smelt the scent of blood and looked over towards Kagome and mentally slapped himself for forgetting that his priestess friend was just injured.

He took a few steps towards her, "So how bad did the snake get you?"  
"Mm?" Kagome hummed confused by what he meant before noticing his stare down by her side and looked down and grimaced when she took notice of the wound on her side that the snake demon had given her.

"Oh…" She placed her hand over it, "I almost forgot about that."

"How could you forget something like that?" She heard her dog friend ask.

The young priestess sighed as she looked back at him, "Well when you're in the middle of a battle you usual tend to forget about your injuries, especially when it's this type of battle."  
Inuyasha sighed before muttering, "True enough." He then shook his head before moving his nose towards her wound to sniff it, "But we should bandage it up before it gets infected."  
"Yeah but first…" The hanyou dog focused up at her meeting her chocolate brown eyes, "We need to get out of this part of the forest before anymore demons shows up."  
Inuyasha grunted knowing that she was right, "Yeah that would be a smart move."  
Kagome smiled as she motioned to turn, "Okay then let's keep going shall we?"

But before she had the chance to take a step forward she felt something go between her legs causing her to gasp sharply as her butt gently landed on a something soft and furry.

She looked down and gabbed, "Inuyasha!?"  
The dog hanyou grunted as he glanced over his shoulder to look at her, "Who'd you think would go and do something like that?"  
Kagome let out a frustrated sigh, "Just how many times are you going to go and surprise me like that!? I swear one of these days you will give me a heart-attack the next time you do that."  
"I doubt that will happen and besides…" He turned his attention forward to stare down the path, "It's faster this way considering it gives you less of a time to argue about it and…" He glanced back at her, "I just like surprising you."  
The young woman narrowed her eyes before rolling them, "Ha ha very funny Inuyasha."

"Now I better not hear you complain!" Inuyasha spoke up again catching her attention as he glared at her like he was scolding a child, "If I hear any complaining I will buck you off and leave you behind."  
Kagome gabbed before narrowing her eyes, "You weren't dare!"  
"Try me." Inuyasha dared her giving her a warning glare.

The young girl stared at him before huffing as she crossed her arms, "Fine have it your way. But only because you know how to get to the Western Lands!"  
"Sure." The young dog replied as he turned his attention to the front of him as he began walking, "Whatever bursts your bubble."

* * *

"Have everything Sango?" One of the village folks asked the young demon slayer as her and the monk stood beside their huge cat friend.

Sango looked over at them before rummaging around in her knapsack, "Mmm umm…yep." She looked over at them and smiled as she tilted her head, "We have everything we will need on our journey."

"Good then we wish you the best of luck Lady Sango and Lord Miroku." A middle aged man encouraged them.

Miroku bowed his head in gratitude, "Thank you we really appreciate it."  
"Make sure you guys take good care of Kohaku and our ladies of the Western and Northern Lands." Sango reminded her fellow demon slayers of their own main mission.

A woman smiled at her, "Now don't you worry about a thing Lady Sango. We have everything under control we won't you down."  
The demon slayer just smiled warmly at them and nodded, "Yeah I know you won't." She then sighed before looking up at her monk friend, "Well Lord Miroku let's be off."  
Miroku nodded before both of them hopped on Kirara and Sango patted her on the head, "Okay Kirara let's go!"

Kirara nodded before taking off and flying towards the woods.

Miroku and Sango waved to the villagers before they were out of sight.

"So where do we start?" Miroku asked the young woman in front of him.

"Well he's a hanyou so if you sense and demonic energy we'll check it out and see if it's him." Sango suggested to the monk.

The young monk sighed, "I guess that's the only thing we can do considering we don't even know where Inuyasha even went or ran off too."  
"So keep your senses up Miroku!" Sango instructed the monk as they flew more towards the south.

Miroku nodded narrowing his eyes with determination, "Right."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Yeah not really a…action packed chapter but I thought it was a good chapter overall. Needed something to at least help me get back into the story at least a little bit and to let people know how each of the groups are doing. Anyway again sorry for the late update and I'll try to update as soon as I can but that'll probably be after I update some of my other stories that need my attention. I can't really give you any previews for the next chapter considering…I don't really know what's going to happen so I guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens when the chapter comes up.

Anyway see ya next chapter!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	7. just a whim

Argh! Sorry for the late update I've just been working on other stories, mainly my novel that I want to get published sometime in the future. Also school and graduation stuff have kept me busy and I've been working on my novel and my fictionpress stories and I just came back from my cabin. So again I'm sorry for the late updates. Anyway hope you like it.

**Chapter 7: Just a Whim**

The stars twinkled in the dark navy blue sky as the moon shined through the world below providing light for the nighttime creatures. Kagome and Inuyasha had stopped in a clearing protected by a circle of trees with a stream just a few feet from them.

"Okay they should be done." The young priestess said to her dog friend happily. The young prince watched her as she grabbed the two large fish away from the fire and handed him one before digging her teeth in hers'.

"Mmm yummy!" Kagome exclaimed brightly with a smile. "This is good!"  
"Yeah." Inuyasha mumbled after taking a bite of his fish. "They are a lot better than our last catch this past afternoon." He then snorted. "Not to mention bigger."

"You said it." She motioned her mouth to the fish. "Beats eating apples practically everyday every single mealtime."

Inuyasha glanced up at her. '_Amazing how she was able to survive this long._' He ripped his fish apart. '_She seriously does have a lot of guts._'

"Man!" Kagome spoke up suddenly catching his attention. She rubbed her thighs. "My legs are killing me."

"Don't complain." He retorted gruffly. "Since I was the one carrying you most of the way here."

She stared at him. "I wasn't." She grunted with a blank expression. "Though I was perfectly capable of walking on my own."

"Hey you were injured!" The hanyou snorted turning his gaze away from her. "I couldn't let you start walking until we took care of it."

"Yeah but even when it was you still insisted on carrying me." Kagome reminded him causing him to jerk.

He snapped his glare at her with his cheeks heated up. "Well if you didn't want to be carried you should have said something!"  
"I did."

Inuyasha jerked his head slightly reminding him that she indeed say that. He grunted with his glare still on her before quickly looking away from her. "Well excuse me for _**trying **_to take care of you!"

Kagome gasped softly surprised how much those words made her heart race. It had been a long time since somebody had even taken the chance to take care of her since her parents and Keade and it made her feel so warm inside. She smiled setting her fish on the ground and embraced her dog friend's neck.

"EH!?" Inuyasha yelped startled by her sudden action. He looked down at her with wide eyes as he felt his cheeks heat up more. "What are you doing!?"  
She sighed pleasantly as she snuggled against him causing him to gulp feeling his insides do summersaults. "Thank you." He heard her say softly.

"F-For what?"

"For taking care of me." She responded sighing softly holding him tightly. "I really appreciate it." '_You have no idea how much I wished for someone to say something like that._'

Inuyasha gulped feeling his heart race as she snuggled into him. What was with him lately? He found his reaction to her very strange yet startling. He had never felt his heart beat this fast for anyone maiden, not even the ones that had flirted with him at his kingdom. The only time it ever raced like this was when he was training and fighting. So what made this any different?

A relieved sigh grasped his attention and turned his gaze down at the young priestess. "Kagome?" He found her sound asleep snuggling into his side using his abdomen as a pillow. He watched her as her chest rose up and down. '_Wow she fell asleep very quickly. Though I guess I can't blame her, a lot of things had happened to her today. She probably never got a good nights rest even when she had the barrier up around her hut._'

His gaze went soft as he watched her sleep. '_You can sleep well from now on Kagome._' He laid his head on the ground his eyes still on her. '_Because I'll protect you since I owe you a lot._' He closed his eyes. '_I'll keep an eye out for you._'

* * *

Sango sat in front of a campfire rubbing Kirara's fur staring at it blankly. She sighed. "It's already been hours since we left the village and we still have no sightings of Inuyasha."  
Miroku sighed as he carried another load of sticks and logs towards the fire and set them down. He looked at her. "Well we knew it wasn't going to be an easy task finding him. We really have no idea of where he could have gone."

She stared up at him. "But we can't just keep wondering blind without any lead. We're looking like idiots doing that."

Miroku sat down across the small flames. "Well what choice do we have. The only idea I can think of is to search through all the villages and take a look at all the demonic energy that we happen to sense along the way."

"But Lord Miroku can we really afford to do that. That could take forever and I don't think we have that much time."

The young monk just sighed softly. "I'm sorry Lady Sango but I'm afraid that's the only thing we can do. We just have to hope that we can find him quickly."

* * *

Kagome stretched out her arms as they strolled down the dirt road. It was a brand new day and Inuyasha and Kagome had left their campsite once the sun had risen far enough in the sky so they could get some more miles in before stopping again.

She sighed pleasantly. "Man I can't remember the last time I slept that good."

Inuyasha glanced at her. "So I take it you've haven't slept much since you left your village?"

The young priestess looked down at him. "Yes you could say that. Ever since my family was killed I always had to watch my back, since I was the one that was left with the jewel. So no matter where I was I had to keep my guard up even when I was at my hut protected by those scrolls. I had to keep on guard because I knew there would be a day when one of those demons would manage to break through it, which obviously happened."

"So I'm guessing you slept good because you weren't by yourself?"

"Oh I don't think that was really the reason." Kagome assured him somewhat puzzled herself. "I hardly slept when I was with my aunt. So I don't know why you being with me had anything to do with it."

Inuyasha grumbled finding himself somewhat offended by her words. "Well maybe you hadn't slept was because you were still haunted by your family's death. I'm sure anyone at that age would have been haunted afterwards."

Kagome tilted her head taking in what he said into consideration. "Maybe."

Inuyasha just glanced at her watching her as she took out an old water container from her carpetbag. She took a sip only to pull it away. "Looks like we need to get some more water. We are practically almost out."  
Inuyasha's ears perked up when the soft sound of rushing water reached his ears. He looked towards a stream that they had been walking beside for basically the whole trip. He moved his gaze back towards her. "We can stop for a bit but only to fill up that container."

She nodded. "That's fine." She then moved towards the stream with Inuyasha following close behind her.

He hopped onto a decent sized rock to lay down on while Kagome stepped into the stream to get more water. He laid his chin on the rock just as Kagome bent down to fill up the container and the young prince got a nice view of her rear.

He stared at it, which caused his insides to stir with risen desire. '_Wow she really has a nice one._' He subconsciously thought. That thought startled him immediately and gasped and quickly sat up on the rock and stared down at the grass with shocked wide eyes.

'_What the hell!? Where the hell did that come from?_' He shook his head as he groaned angrily. '_Damn I've been hanging around Miroku too much that his perverted habits are rubbing off on me._' He narrowed his gaze. '_I'll have to beat him when I reach the castle._'

"Alright Inuyasha." He heard Kagome say to him grasping his attention. He watched her as she turned to smile at him and at that moment the sun shined on the water which caused the light to shine on her.

Inuyasha gaped his jaw slightly opened in awe as the shine showed him how beautiful she was in the light. He stared with wide eyes. '_Whoa._' His insides stirred more with desire just at the sight of her.

She walked over by him smiling happily. "Let's get going."

Her voice snapped him out of his trance only to watch her as she began walking ahead of him. He grumbled and glared up at the sky. '_Okay what was up with that!? It was like the light did that on purpose!_'

"Inuyasha?" He heard Kagome call out to him grasping his attention. She stared back at him in concern. "Are you coming?"

He grunted. "Yeah yeah." He hopped off of the rock and raced up beside her. "I was just determining whether it was going to be nice like this all day or not."

"Yeah it would be horrible if it decided to rain." Kagome replied.

"Well rain doesn't really bother me, it's more of the storms that I'm somewhat worried about." The young prince rephrased himself. "Since if it starts storming we really have no shelter."

"Ohhh yeah good point." The young priestess grimaced at his words. She looked over towards the trees. "And I don't think hiding under the trees would be a good choice."

"Unless you want to get crushed by a tree." The dog prince muttered out.

"Only an idiot would want to go and do that." She replied. "Unless they are really desperate to get out of the rain."

"Yeah." Inuyasha said roughly hoping to forget what he had just felt back at the stream. But it was proving to be difficult considering just being near her was still making his stomach stir with desire. '_Okay now I am getting extremely annoyed with this. I just hope this little whim passes soon or I won't be able to concentrate on fighting hardly anything._' He glanced up at the young miko. '_And I need my full concentration in order to protect her. So I can't afford to be letting these stupid whim feelings get in the way of my concentration._'

* * *

"Well father have you figured out how to get ourselves out of this mess?" Sesshoumaru asked his father bitterly sitting on a bench across from the old king.

Inutashio sighed continuing to tap his arms trying to figure out some sort of situation. He glanced around their cell and the dungeon. '_I don't think there'd be any loose brick considering we built these cells with very strong bricks that no demon can get through._' "I think our best bet is to try breaking that barrier."

"And how are do you suppose we do that father?" The eldest asked him roughly his gaze narrowed on his father. "Since I highly doubt Naraku would have loophole in his barrier."

Inutashio turned his gaze to meet his son's. "Well we have no choice but to try."

Sesshoumaru grumbled he couldn't help but agree with his father's suggestion. He then noticed his father dig his hand into the top of his kimono and pull out a stringed stone.

"Father?"

"But until then we are going to need some help on the outside walls to keep Naraku and his minions in line." Inutashio said holding out the stone as it began to shine dark blue.

Sesshoumaru nodded understanding what his father was getting at. He turned his gaze outside of the prison bars. '_I pray that you are alright Rin._'

* * *

Rin stared up at the blue sky with sadness still lingering in her gaze. '_Oh my dear Sesshoumaru I hope you are alright and staying strong like you always are._'

"Rin?"

"Mm?" She hummed as Izayoi's voice grasped her attention. "Oh." She said as she spotted the older woman stroll up to her with some washed up clothes. "Lady Izayoi."

Izayoi groaned sadly seeing the loneliness and worry in her step-daughter-in-law's gaze. "Miss him don't you."

Rin sighed sadly. "Yes I do. I've had him around so much that I just feel so empty without him."

The older woman looked at her sympathetically and rubbed her shoulder. "Same here. But I'm sure Inutashio and Sesshoumaru are fine, they are strong men. So I promise you they will get out of there alive. Just have some faith in them."

Rin nodded before walking pass her to go back to her duties that she had been given.

Izayoi sighed turning her gaze up to the sky. '_And I do hope that you are all right my darling along with Inuyasha as well. Lord Miroku Lady Sango I hope you find him soon._'

* * *

"Are sensing any demonic aura yet Lord Miroku?" Sango called back to Miroku as they rode on Kirara's back.

"Mmmm." Miroku hummed as he concentrated on the area and sighed in frustration. "No not yet."

Sango sighed revealing to him the frustration in her voice. "Well keep looking. We are bound to find at least one sooner or later."  
"But this is strange Lady Sango." The young monk replied staring out towards the horizon puzzled. "Usually one would be able to sense one demon but…I haven't found none."  
"Well maybe the demons are just moving around so fast that you can't sense them."

Miroku looked at her. "I highly doubt it."

The young demon slayer groaned at his answer and turned her attention back to the land below. "Mm?" She hummed when she noticed something on the ground below them. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Miroku asked her in slight concern.

Sango ignored him. "Kirara go down."

The huge demon cat nodded and went down to the thing that her master had spotted. Once she landed Sango quickly hopped off and walked up towards the thing she spotted. Miroku slowly got off staring at her still puzzled of what had gotten her so worked up about.

He heard her gap softly. "Lord Miroku." She spoke up as she picked up the object in her arms and turned to face him. "I think I found something."

Miroku noticed the object in her arms and gasped when he saw a pile of clothes. He took a step towards her not taking his eyes off of the pile. "Are those…"  
"Yes these are the exact clothes that Inuyasha was wearing the day he disappeared." Sango answered him shocked with her discovery.

The young monk gasped at her assumption and had to agree they were the exact clothes that his best friend had been wearing the last time they had spoke to him.

"Then something tells me that he didn't run because he was afraid of the ceremony." Miroku told more himself than the young demon slayer.

"Then do you suppose that Naraku may have been the one that chased him out?" Sango questioned the young monk staring straight right at him.

Miroku tapped his chin thinking of could have happened to their friend. "Well what I think may have happened…" He raised his gaze to stare at hers'. "I think he may have gone out to get some air and maybe Naraku caught him off guard and attacked him."  
Sango gasped staring at him with fear. "So then are you saying that he is dead!?"

He shook his head. "I really don't think Naraku killed him. Since even you have to admit Inuyasha, even off guard, wouldn't allow anyone to kill him."

"But then why is there only his clothes and sword left?" The young demon slayer questioned him desperately. "And we are dealing with an evil wizard may I remind you."  
Miroku hummed trying to pull the pieces together. There could very well be a chance that Naraku could have finished off the young prince. But he refused to believe his friend would have been killed so easily. He didn't want to believe it, there just had to be another explanation for his disappearance.

He looked at Sango. "Can Kirara sniff scents?"

Sango stared at him oddly. "Why yes but her sense of smell isn't as strong as a dogs." She tilted her head with an arched brow. "Why?"

"Kirara?" Miroku said to the huge cat ignoring Sango's question. He strolled over to her. "Do you know Inuyasha's scent?"

Kirara nodded slightly. Sango gasped now understanding what the young monk was trying to do. "Then can you try sniffing it out?" She questioned her cat friend.

Kirara tilted her head at her master like she was more questioning herself than Sango and Miroku. She then brought her nose to the ground and began sniffing seeing and hoping that she could find the young lord's scent.

She made a noise when she surprisingly caught a hold of his scent and began following it. Miroku and Sango gasped taking the hint that she was able to find his scent.

'_Yes!_' Miroku cheered pumping his fist slightly in victory. '_We may have actually found ourselves a lead!_'

Kirara stopped at the edge of the clearing and looked back at the monk and demon slayer. She tilted her head towards the trees. The two took that as a hint to hop on, they rushed up to her and got on and once they were on Kirara raced into the woods following the hanyou's scent.

* * *

"Look." Kagome spoke up catching the hanyou's attention as she pointed ahead of her. "A village."

Inuyasha followed her finger and grunted blankly. "Heh figured we would arrive in a village sooner or later." He looked up at her. "Do you want to stop there?"

"No I don't think so." She replied shaking her head slightly. "I only want to stop if I desperately need too and this time isn't one of them."

"Okay then." He replied staring back at the village. "Then we'll just keep going."

The young miko nodded before motioning towards the village with Inuyasha right beside her. They reached the village when the villagers were out walking around shopping which made it quite crowded.

"Wow it's pretty crowded here." Kagome pointed out finding herself quite shocked.

"Heh this is nothing. I've been to towns and villages that have been way more crowded than this one." Inuyasha snorted out not at all shocked by the crowd.

The young priestess looked down at him. "You've been in towns and villages before?"  
Inuyasha jerked realization what he had just confessed to her. '_Damn it! Why can't I keep my mouth shut about that stuff for more than a day?_' He sighed turning his gaze away from hers'. "I'll tell you more about it later."  
Kagome blinked tilting her head. '_Now what's this all about? Could there maybe be a chance that my prediction about him was true?_'

'_Might as well confess to her but I won't do it here. I'll do it when we set camp for the night._' Inuyasha told himself caving in to the guilt he had been feeling about lying to the young miko.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something. "Oh what a beautiful young lady we have here."  
"Huh?" She said as the voice grasped her attention. She met the eyes of a man looking to be at least two years older than she is. He stared at her with gleaming charming green eyes that could probably charm any woman.

"Oh hello." She greeted in a friendly manner paying attention to the uneasy feeling the man was giving her.

"My my out of all the young maidens I have seen and encountered I must say you are the fairest of them all."

Kagome chuckled weakly giving him a fake smile. "Why…thank you that's real nice of you to say so."  
Inuyasha's face hardened growling softly getting the urge to pounce on the human. '_Okay what is this bastard up too?_'

The man took notice of Inuyasha and closed his eyes smiling the hanyou. "And what…" He reopened his eyes only to gap when he finally got a look at him. He stared at Inuyasha oddly. "A…lovely dog you have."  
The man's words only caused Inuyasha's growl to become harsher. The man cleared his throat regaining his happy composure before smiling at the young prince and reached his hand out to pet him. "What a good dog he…"

Before the man had the chance to pet him Inuyasha snapped at his hand causing the man to gasp sharply and quickly moved his hand away from his mouth.

Kagome glared at him and hissed sternly. "Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha returned the glare. '_Hey the bastard called me lovely! And was about to treat me like I really am a dog! I can't let him get away with something like that!_'

The young miko sighed softly before bowing her head in apology. "I am so sorry. Inuyasha is a bit hostile towards others so please don't mind his behavior."

Inuyasha grumbled angrily. '_Hey the bastard deserved it._'

The man waved his hand reassuringly. "Oh it's quite alright. Not a lot of dogs like me very much."

The young prince grunted at that. '_Gee I wonder why._' He looked over towards Kagome whom he now noticed was glaring at him signaling him to knock it off. His only response to her was a grunt and turned his gaze away from her.

Kagome just shook her head as she straightened herself up and stared at the man in front of her. "Well I guess we should be going now." She looked at Inuyasha. "Come on Inuyasha let's keep going."

'_Gladly._' Inuyasha thought bitterly tossing the man a glare before quickly following Kagome.

"Oh wait hold on!" The man called out to them.

Inuyasha growled noticing Kagome stopping which caused him to stop as well. He glared back at him. '_Great now what?_'

The man appeared in front of Kagome now smiling with confidence that strangely made Kagome's stomach turn sickly. "Why don't I show you around the village? It could be fun."

"Uh I'd rather not." Kagome replied waving her hands in refusal.

"Oh but there is so much to see." The man went on. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side, she gasped at his sudden action.

Inuyasha flinched at the sight of it and his growl became harsher as his fur began to stand on end suddenly feeling very angry. '_Can't this guy just take a hint!?_'

The man smiled seductively at the young miko. "I can show you so many things." He then leaned towards her ear and whispered. "And if you leave your mutt here I can show you much more."

Kagome gasped getting the message and quickly reacted. "Whoa whoa!" She began pushing him away from her. "Hold it!"  
But before she could say anything else something rushed up and shoved the man away from her grasp.

"AH!" She heard the man yelp out in pain while hearing him getting knocked into something hard.

She gasped when she saw Inuyasha right in front of her separating her from the man. "Inuyasha!?"

"Bastard!" Inuyasha roared out ready to pounce on the man.

Kagome quickly reacted and grabbed a hold of the dog hanyou's neck. "No Inuyasha! Stop!"  
Inuyasha felt her but he kept at it. "You fucking bastard! How dare you even suggest something like that!? Couldn't you even tell she doesn't want to go with you!? Anywhere!"  
The man looked at him with wide shocked eyes he pointed at him. "Did…did you just…talk?"

"Of course I can talk you idiot!" Inuyasha continued to roar out. "If I couldn't I wouldn't be right in front of you snapping at you!"  
His shouts caught the villagers' attention, which caused them to whisper silently which caused Kagome to panic slightly.

"Inuyasha! Knock it off!" Kagome ordered him loudly. "You are making a scene!"  
"Not until I bite his head off!" Inuyasha growled out loudly. "He deserves to die!"  
"Inuyasha no!" Kagome began to plead loudly. "Inuyasha!" Then from the corner of her eye she noticed his beaded necklace shine. She gasped and immediately shouted out. "Inuyasha sit!"  
Inuyasha immediately stopped as he was slammed onto the ground. "GAH!" '_What the hell!?_'

The young miko sighed in relief before meeting the man's shocked eyes and bowed quickly. "I am so sorry. He's not very good with handling his temper."

The man only stared at her with his mouth opened slightly astound of what had just happened.

Kagome then quickly turned towards the villagers and bowed her head. "I am so sorry for the rude disturbance. My friend has a tendency to do that."  
That only made the crowd mutter among themselves. Kagome ignored them as she quickly grabbed Inuyasha. "Okay Inuyasha it's time to go."

The young prince only grumbled allowing her to help him up and walk with her out of the village figuring it was best not to challenge her at that moment.

"Did you see that?" One of the villagers whispered as they watched them leave.

"Yeah that must mean she was a priestess."

"But what was she doing with a violent creature like that dog?"

The villager shrugged. "Maybe she's trying to help it change its ways."

* * *

"Kagome!? What the hell was that about!?" Inuyasha yelled out glaring up at the young miko with dirt now on his white fur. "You told me that this necklace would not subdue me!"  
"Hey I thought so too! But apparently I was mistaken." Kagome defended herself before narrowing her gaze at him. '_Though right now I'm glad I was mistaken. I guess Keade gave him one that can do both tasks_.' "But forget about that! What was up with you back there!? That attack was totally unnecessary!"  
"Hey I was just trying to get the creep off of you!"

"Well if you hadn't noticed I can take very good care of myself in that type of situation!" Kagome crossed her arms her gaze still firm and narrowed. "I was about to get him off of me when you did an unnecessary move!"  
"Aw shut up! How was I suppose to know you were going to handle it!" Inuyasha defended himself with a stubborn snort immediately turning his gaze away from her.

"Well if you would have just relaxed and watched me closely you would have seen it!"  
"Well screw me for _**trying **_to protect you!" Inuyasha shouted at her tossing his glare back at her. "With you having that jewel many demons could try tricky ways to get that jewel from you! Even if it means disguising themselves as humans!"

Kagome gasped as he pointed that out to him. She then looked at him thoughtfully. "But…I didn't feel any demonic aura around him."  
"Well hey when they hide they are pretty damn good at it, especially when they are trying to get what they want!"

"Then did you sense that he was a demon?"

Inuyasha sighed lowering his gaze to the ground. "No he smelt human."

"So were you just being cautious?" Kagome questioned him as it started to make sense to her.

The young prince nodded as he raised his gaze up to her. "Yes I was. I know I went I little far but I had to do what I thought had to be done."

Kagome eyed him not too sure if he was really telling her to the truth. But sighed in defeat deciding to go along with his tale, if was really was telling her the truth.

"Well I really appreciate the extra cautiousness but next time will you just make sure he is a demon before brutally attacking the poor guy."

Inuyasha muttered roughly. "Can't make any promises."  
Kagome just sighed as they continued to walk on.

Inuyasha looked down at the ground. He couldn't believe he actually lied to her yet again, but this time…he didn't have a specific reason why he brutally attacked the guy. He just made him extremely angry way angrier than any other person he had encountered, even Naraku. But why did he get so furious? He didn't know, but whatever made him furious he would have to make sure he wouldn't get that furious again.

'_This better just be a whim or else I will end up getting subdued a lot more now that Kagome has accessed it._' He then grumbled. '_Oh this trip has just became __**really **__fun._'

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

-Sighs- Yes finally got this chapter done! Yes I know it is short…very short at that. But I just wanted to get this chapter up so you people would know that I'm still alive and still working on these stories. I've just been extremely busy with it now summer and all. But I promise you next chapter will be longer! Now the next chapter will be when Sango and Miroku get a little farther with finding Inuyasha while Kagome and Inuyasha haunt out a demon that has been terrorizing a village and what will happen…well you're just going to have to wait and see. I don't know when I'll update again but I promise it will be soon!

See ya next time!  
**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	8. just our luck

Hey there back with another chapter! Figured since I had the plot for this chapter pretty much figured out that I should just start writing up and update the story first. Sorry for the late update though, been busy with going on vacation and getting ready for school and writing my novel and my others stories. But I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

**Chapter 8: Just Our Luck**

_**Crash! Thumb! Thumb! Crash!**_

"Mm?" A village man hummed as he looked over towards the forest with his hoe in the ground. "What was that?"

"Darling?" He heard his wife say to him in concern.

The man stared out towards the forest only to scream when a dark creature hopped out from the trees and grabbed him.

"AHHHH!" His wife screamed running towards the village when the creature motioned to chase after her.

But once she was out of his sight the demon smirked at the man and hopped back into the woods.

'_This is a perfect place to hideout. That demon Naraku told me that the young priestess with the jewel was coming this way._' He chuckled. "I can't wait until she arrives and hands over the jewel!"

The screaming man interrupted his thoughts. He grunted as he turned his attention to the man. "But until then might as well feast upon the villagers here." He shoved the man in his mouth and swallowed him.

* * *

"Kagome how could you say that his necklace doesn't subdue someone when it obviously does?" Inuyasha brought up to the young priestess yet again.

Kagome grunted, he was obviously still furious at the fact that the beaded necklace that Keade gave him was able to subdue him. "Listen Inuyasha, I was telling you the truth. I thought it wasn't a subdue rosary I truly thought it was a different type of prayer beads. I thought it was just to have you communicate with me but I guess I was mistaken."

Inuyasha grunted getting the feeling she was really telling him the truth. '_Damn just my luck._ _I really have had bad luck these past few days. What with Naraku turning me into a dog and having to be stuck like this until I kill him and being far from my home and now being subdued! My luck just sucks right now!_'

Kagome's gaze softened as she looked at him questionably. "You…you aren't mad at me are you?"  
The young prince just stared at her before sighing turning his gaze away from her. "No I'm not mad. I'm just frustrated because of my luck lately."

Kagome groaned. "Having bad luck?"  
"Yeah I have."

The young priestess looked at him with regret. "I'm sorry if I'm causing you to have bad luck."  
Inuyasha jerked when he realized what he just said and quickly looked at her. "I'm not talking about you! I'm talking about Naraku and me being stuck like this!"  
"Stuck?" She repeated causing him to flinch. She raised a brow. "What do you mean?"  
The young hanyou groaned before turning his gaze to the ground. "Nothing." He then sped up a bit. "Just keep going."

Kagome watched him and knew he was hiding something. '_I am right aren't I? He wasn't always a dog was he?_' She stared at him sympathetically. '_Naraku must have cursed him to be a dog._'

Inuyasha didn't look back at her. '_I guess I have no choice but to confess to her, since I've already pretty much gave her clues that I'm not suppose to be looking like a dog._' He raised his gaze to look out towards the horizon. '_I'll tell her tonight when we set up camp._'

* * *

Kirara continued to sore through the bright blue sky following the scent of the young lord.

"What luck we had with finding his clothes." Miroku spoke up finding himself very pleased with their progress so far.

"Yeah and lucky I was able to catch a glimpse of them before we ended up missing them." The demon slayer agreed. She glanced over her shoulder. "So then does that mean he managed to get away from Naraku before he had the chance to finish him off?"  
"It could mean anything." The young monk answered truthfully before staring at her sternly. "But most likely that's what I could mean."

"Which hopefully means we'll find him soon."

"One can only hope my dear Sango."

"EH!?" Sango gaped out feeling something rub her bottom. She growled her fist shaking as a vein popped on her forehead. "Why you!"

She backhand him causing him to squirm a bit trying to keep himself on Kirara but his attempts failed and fell off of the demon cat.

He yelled causing Sango to gasp. "Kirara!"

The huge demon cat dove down and Sango quickly grabbed his hand grunting while trying to keep her firm grip on Kirara. "You alright Lord Miroku?"  
"Yeah!" He yelled up before staring at her with a blank glare. "Though you were the one that caused me to almost fall to my doom."

Sango scowled angrily. "Hey you were the one that decided to rub my ass! I could have let you fall to your doom but I'm not that type of person!" She pulled him up and helped him get back on Kirara.

She glared at him. "So if anyone is to blame it's you for not keeping your hands to yourself!"

Miroku just groaned staring at her with a blank glare.

* * *

Inutashio hung the stone in front of the barrier.

"_**Mmm that is indeed a very tough barrier my lord.**_"

The king turned the stone to face him to see a shadow of a man in the stone. "Is there a way to break through it?"

"We need to break through it in order to take down that damn Naraku!" Sesshoumaru voiced in impatiently. "We have family we need to get back to."

"_**I am aware of that my young lord. But breaking this barrier or even finding away is going to take a lot of work and time. Since it seems Naraku has gotten stronger since the last encounter.**_"

"Don't remind us." Inutashio replied gruffly. "Did you send the message out to the others and the secret soldiers?"  
The shadow nodded. "_**Yes my lord. So they'll be looking out for any of Naraku's minions or Naraku himself.**_"

"What about the jewel that Lady Kikyo made? Is someone out searching for that? Since I'm assuming that's what he's after."

"How would he know anything about that?" Sesshoumaru questioned his father.

Inutashio looked back at his eldest son. "Well it is a well known jewel and all the demons have heard of it so I wouldn't doubt it if the rumors went to Naraku."

"_**Yes my lord I have one of the secret soldiers searching for the jewel and Lady Kikyo as we speak.**_"

* * *

Kagome panted as she ran down the dirt road that led through the woods. "I am…so getting…sick of this!"  
"Come back little priestess!" A female snake demon hissed out as she crawled of the miko. "And give me the jewel!"  
Kagome groaned angrily quickly grabbing an arrow and turned to release her arrow. "Not a chance!"

She shot the arrow aiming it right at the snake's chest disintegrating her. She sighed in slight relief but gasped sharply when the ground under her began to rumble. Suddenly out of the ground came the male demon snake.

"You won't get away miko!" He hissed at her angrily.

Kagome yelled in surprise.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Kagome gasped and looked towards the voice just in time to see the snake get clawed in half.

"Inuyasha!"  
Inuyasha landed in front of her. "Sorry it took me so long." He glanced at her. "That other snake was a bothersome bastard."

"Just our luck to run into a family of snake demons." Kagome cursed their bad luck bitterly.

"Yep our luck just stinks at right now." Inuyasha agreed gruffly.

Just as he finished his sentence more demon snakes appeared around them. The two jerked into a fighting position.

"You will regret stepping into our territory." One hissed at them before charging towards them. "And you'll regret not handing over the jewel!"  
"There's no way I'm handing this over to the likes of you!" Kagome shot back shooting another arrow at the snake.

Inuyasha pounced onto one of the snakes and bit him in the neck where one of his veins was. The snake hissed painfully and shook the young prince off of him. The dog prince landed on the ground before charging up towards the demon and sharpened his claws.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" He yelled out clawing the snake in half.

An angry hiss appeared beside him grasping his attention. The young prince scowled before pouncing towards the snake demon and clawed it in half vertically. He groaned when he glanced around finding that there were still more to kill.

'_Damn! This battle would be so much easier if I only had Tetsusaiga with me!_'

"Inuyasha!"

"Huh?" He tossed a stare towards Kagome only to have something-purple shine beside him. He grunted painfully squinting his eyes and once the light vanished he looked at Kagome to find her with her bow in her hands like she had just shot an arrow.

He then realized what she did. '_I owe her yet again._' He jerked when a snake demon approached Kagome from behind. "Kagome!?"

The young miko stared at him with surprise before sensing an evil presence behind her. But before she or the demon had the chance to strike Inuyasha forced Kagome on his back and jumped out of the way as the snake bit the ground.

"Inuyasha!" She yelped out in surprise gripping tightly on his fur. He landed on one of the tree branches and glared down at the snake. "Stupid snake."

Kagome shook her head snapping herself out of her daze and aimed an arrow at the snakes.

"Your arrows will not work this time!" One of the snakes hissed as they charged towards the tree.

The young miko narrowed her gaze. '_Please jewel give me the extra strength to destroy these things!_' The jewel responded to her plea and began to shine bright blue catching Inuyasha's attention.

"What?" He whispered out in shock.

The blue light flew into her arrow and at that moment Kagome released the arrow. "Purify them all!"  
Her own aura and the jewel's light collided and as the arrow flew through the air the light spread aiming at each of the snakes. The demon snakes screamed as the light shined on them forcing them to break apart leaving only their remains.

Inuyasha watched with wide eyes. "Whoa."

He heard Kagome sigh with great relief. "Finally we got rid of them."

"We?" He repeated looking back at her. "You were the one that got rid of them all."  
The young miko smiled at him. "But I couldn't have done it without your help Inuyasha."

The young prince blushed at her words. "So that's how you get your extra strength?"

"Mm?"

"By using the jewel you're able to make yourself stronger." Inuyasha went on going by of what he had seen.

Kagome nodded. "At times I do use the jewel to assist me usually when I'm outnumbered."

"Well of what I've seen so far that jewel is an awful handy tool to have in battle."

"Yeah but a curse to have when you truly think about it and all the danger it puts us through." She reminded him.

Inuyasha sighed closing his eyes as she reminded him. "Well just like everything else there are advantages and disadvantages."

"I guess you're right."

He reopened his gaze to meet hers'. "Let's keep moving." He hopped down from the tree and began walking.

"Um Inuyasha?"  
"Huh what?" He questioned as he looked back at her.

She tilted her head. "Uh can you let me get off you know?"  
Inuyasha arched a brow. "What you don't want to be carried?"

Kagome's cheeks heated up which startled her slightly but answered him. "It's not that I don't want too it's just…why be carried when I'm perfectly capable of walking?"  
The young prince hummed before sighing as he came to a stop. "Alright if that's really what you want?"

The young miko smiled as she carefully got off of his back and quickly moved up beside him grasping his attention still smiling. "Thank you Inuyasha."  
Inuyasha blushed but snorted quickly looking away from her. "Heh no problem." This was all so strange to him? Why would even suggest that he's carry her? Actually he didn't even suggest or ask her if she wanted to he just went ahead and let her almost ride on his back willingly like he wanted her to be on his back.

He groaned with annoyance while lowering his gaze to the ground. '_I just assumed she would that's all. It's not like I really wanted her to ride on me I was…I was just being considerate. Even though it ain't my style but hey the girl saved my life so the least I can do is be unusually considerate to her._'

* * *

Miroku sighed in relief as he leaned his back against a tree trunk. "Now that was a great fish."

Sango groaned annoyingly with a blank stare as she sat on the left side of him as the campfire danced with the wind. "Glad you enjoyed the fish."  
He smiled at her. "Well after having a rough day like today you tend to enjoy the small breaks you can get."

"Why are you so happy?"

"Mm? Sango?"

She looked at the fire. "This is no time for us to be happy. We still haven't managed to find Inuyasha and if we don't and hurry back the others may be gone!"

"Oh Sango you worry too much."  
The demon slayer stared at him sternly. "And you're not?"

"Of course I'm worried. But we are making great progress Sango. We were able to get a lead on Inuyasha so I'm sure we'll find him soon. Now as for the others I'm sure they'll be fine. Lady Izayoi, Kohaku and Lady Rin are at your village where we know they will protect them if trouble ever comes knocking."

"But what about Lord Inutashio and Lord Sesshoumaru?" Sango went on with a worried fearful expression. "We don't even know what Naraku did with them?"

Miroku stared at her firmly. "I'm sure they are fine Sango. They're demons may I remind you, tough ones at that, so I wouldn't worry about them too much since I'm sure they are handling their situation just fine."

"How can you be so sure?"  
"Simple I have faith in them, always have and always will." His gaze became soft. "And you should to."

Sango sighed turning her gaze away from him causing the young monk to release a soft sigh. "So what do you think happened to Inuyasha?"

"Mm?" Miroku hummed meeting her gaze once again.

"I mean if Kirara caught a hold of his scent then that means he's still alive right?"

He nodded. "Yes it does mean that."  
"Then what do you suppose happened considering he left his clothes and his sword behind?" The demon slayer questioned him.

Miroku sighed roughly. "I'm not sure." He glanced at her. "If he encountered Naraku who knows what he could have done to Inuyasha."

* * *

The sun was setting and Inuyasha and Kagome decided to stop for the remainder of the evening.

"Oh what luck!" Kagome exclaimed as she stood near a hot spring. She smiled happily. "That we are actually camping near a hot spring!"  
"What's so great about being at a hot spring?" She heard Inuyasha snort catching her attention. He was laying by the fire that they had just built and were cooking some fish.

She smiled as she turned to face him. "Well I haven't really gotten myself really clean these past couple days." She propped her hands on her hips. "So I really need to bathe more than anything."

Inuyasha looked at her oddly tilting his head. '_Really? She doesn't smell like it._'

The young miko turned back towards the hot springs and began undoing her kimono. Inuyasha gasped when he noticed and quickly turned his head away from her his cheeks heating up. '_That's right she thinks I'm a dog so she's probably nothing thinking she's actually getting undressed in front of an actual being._'

Kagome noticed his sudden reaction. "Inuyasha?" '_Now why did he do that?_' Something then clicked in her mind and she smirked. '_Let's see how he reacts._' "Hey Inuyasha?"  
"Mm? What?" He responded glancing back at her.

The young miko smiled at him as the kimono began going pass her shoulders Inuyasha gulped feeling his insides heat up. "Would you like to join me?"  
"What!?" He yelped out in surprise immediately turning his head to meet her gaze. His eyes were wide feeling his heart pummel against his chest. '_Did she…did she actually suggest what I think she suggested?_'

He gasped when the kimono was now at her waist revealing her silky smooth skin. Kagome's heart pounded against her chest as her body and insides heated up in embarrassment. '_This is so embarrassing! But I have to see if he'll squirm. Since if he squirms then he was a human and if he doesn't squirm then that means he's either a very perverted human or being or he's really a dog._'

Inuyasha quickly turned his head away blushing madly. "N-No thank you!"  
"Mm? Why not?"

He closed his eyes sweat slowly dripping down his head. "Duh! I don't need a bath! I am just fine!"

"You sure?" She questioned.

"Of course I'm sure!" He snorted out gruffly keeping his eyes away from her.

His ears perked up when he heard her sigh at his answer. "Then that means you really weren't a dog by birth."

He jerked and snapped his head back towards the young miko. "What?"

She had slid into the hot water and sighed pleasantly causing the young prince to grumble getting the feeling she hadn't heard him. "What are you talking about?"  
"We'll take more once I get out." She told him loudly forcing the dog prince to groan in dismay.

'_Does that mean she knows? Well duh how wouldn't see know? I gave her so many stinking clues that there's no doubt in my mind that she hasn't figured it out yet._'

Kagome's smile faded and lowered her eyes while hugging herself as her heart pummeled against her chest. She gulped as her insides stirred hotly. '_I can't believe what I just did! That was seriously not me at all. But I had too. I had to see how he reacted to determine if my prediction was correct._'

She held her hand over her chest. '_My heart is seriously pounding._' She sighed roughly sinking herself more into the water. '_Oh Kagome get a hold of yourself. It probably doesn't mean anything it's most likely just pounding because of what you had just done. Since I'm sure anyone would agree that that was completely embarrassing._'

* * *

"So Inuyasha?" Kagome spoke up approaching the resting Inuyasha after her pleasant time in the hot springs.

Inuyasha's ears perked up allowing his eyes to open and raised his head to her just as she sat down beside him. "So what?"

She leaned her chin on her palm. "Mind telling me what you _**really **_are?" He flinched which she noticed. "Considering I have noticed that you are completely different than most dogs and I doubt it has anything to do with you being a demon."

The young prince just stared at her before sighing roughly sitting up. "Alright I guess I have no choice but to come clean." He stared at her blankly. "Since I have accidentally given you too many clues that gave you the hint that I wasn't like this by birth."

"So what happened to you?" The young miko began her questioning hugging her knees. "Why are suddenly like this?"  
Inuyasha grunted. "One word…Naraku."

"What?" She replied her eyes going wide before letting go of her legs and leaned towards him. "Are you saying that Naraku forced you to be like this?"  
He nodded. "Yes exactly which is why I'm going after him to kill and get myself back to normal."

"So…who were you before Naraku turned you into a dog?" Kagome questioned arching a brow.

Inuyasha paused trying to figure out of how to explain. "Inuyasha?" He heard her say his name questioningly grasping his attention. He sighed. "I was a traveling swordsman and came onto Lord Inutashio's land when Naraku had set out an attack on the young lord."

She gasped. "You mean Lord Inutashio's younger son Inuyasha?"

He nodded. "Yeah I was hoping to help him but Naraku got the best of me and him and we both lost."  
"Do you know what happened to Lord Inuyasha then?"  
Inuyasha sighed softly shaking his head. "No I don't." '_I won't tell her the real truth about me just yet. I want to make sure she is fully trustworthy before revealing anymore about myself._' That's what he told himself but part of him knew that wasn't the real reason for him not telling her the full truth. But he shook it off he was going to believe what he said and that's all there was to it.

"But that's just weird."

"Mm? What's weird?" The young prince questioned as she grasped his attention yet again.

She stared at him oddly. "That you have the same name as Lord Inuyasha?"

He shrugged. "Guess my parents liked the name as well."

"But it's not a common name that most people use." Kagome remarked calmly. "Seriously the only person I have ever heard who's had that name _**was**_ the young lord."

Inuyasha muttered. "Well it's a small world Kagome. Though with you being all alone at that hut for a long time you probably didn't meet a lot of people so you wouldn't really know what names are used nowadays."

"Hm guess that's true." She then smiled at him. "But that would explain all of your strange behaviors."

"Strange behaviors? Just what did I do that was so strange?" He questioned arching a brow.

"Oh being able to write, being able to talk like you were actually a human at some point and the fact that usually when you try grabbing a fist you instinctively use your paw like you thought it was a hand." She explained. "And again I seriously doubt that you being a demon had something to do with it."

"Hmm I was that obvious huh?" Inuyasha said assuming the obvious softly turning his gaze to the ground.

Kagome smiled. "Oh and let's not also forget the stuff you said that also gave you away as well."

"Yeah there is that."

She chuckled lightly but then frowned staring at him seriously. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
"Huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me all this in the beginning when you were able to speak?"

Inuyasha released a rough sigh. "I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if I could trust you with that type of information."

Kagome felt her heart sink a bit finding herself strangely disappointed as a memory appeared in her mind. "Is that why you almost bit my hand off and sniffed my arm when we first met?"

"Yes because Naraku tricked the prince. He had disguised himself as a young girl to drag him out of his castle to help considering Naraku made it seem like he was in danger."

The young miko scowled. "What a lowlife to do something like that." She crossed her arms. "So you thought I was Naraku or something?"  
The young lord nodded. "Yeah or some type of trap set up by Naraku. I just couldn't take that chance to be tricked by him."

"Hmm I guess that's understandable." She responded feeling her heart lift up a bit. She leaned more towards him catching his attention. "So with you telling me all this now does that mean you trust me?"

Inuyasha stared at her and gazed at her softly. "Yeah…guess it does mean that." '_At least a little._' But once again his heart disagreed with his thought, which caused him to growl softly in annoyance.

Kagome found herself smiling at his words. "That's good." She moved away from him with her gaze on him. "I was worried that you didn't."  
"What?" He replied softly before raising a brow. "Why would you be worried about that?"

"Because if we both indeed to defeat Naraku we may need to work together and we can't do that if we don't trust one another." The young miko answered. Inuyasha stared at her with amazed eyes ignoring the fact that her words were making his insides stir. "And we're in this together Inuyasha no one should do this alone."

"Hmm says the girl who wanted to do this on her own in the beginning." Inuyasha mumbled out reminding her of that.

"I just didn't want you to get involved in something like this that could end up killing you." Kagome defended before frowning slightly. "I still don't want that I'm still feeling uneasy about you coming with me considering with all the demons that have come after me. But you were able to get through all the battles with flying colors."

"Duh! That's because I'm not weak!" The young prince remarked with a narrowed gaze. "I can take on any demon that comes at me! Even Naraku!"

She smiled softly her insides stirring with fear and uneasiness. "I hope you're right."

"Don't worry just trust me okay."

His reassurance helped ease up her uneasy feeling but it wasn't that much to make it disappear.

* * *

An annoyed growl was heard in the mountains as a devil like demon crouched down on the ground tarring off the top part of a mortal.

He chopped down on the flesh and bones sitting there waiting for his real pray to come along. '_When will that stupid miko show up with my jewel! I thought she would be here by now!_' He shoved the remainder of the human's body inside his mouth and swallowed him.

"I am getting bored sitting here waiting." He narrowed his gaze. "So she better show up soon or else I will go ballistic!"

* * *

It was now morning and Inuyasha and Kagome had set out again to continue their journey towards the castle in the western lands.

Kagome fiddled with the sparkling magical stoned necklace in her fingers staring at it in wonder.

Inuyasha took notice of her silence and raised his gaze to find her in daze staring at the jewel. He arched a brow. "Kagome?"

He watched the young miko jerk out of her thoughts to lower her gaze to him. "Why are you staring at the stone like that? Are you cursing it for giving you such bad luck?"

"No." She responded softly looking at him with a serious gaze, which he noticed. "It has nothing to do with that."  
"Then why are you looking at it like that?"

The young miko sighed softly turning her gaze back at the stone. "I've just been thinking that maybe we should find the wizard that helped my mother create this jewel."

"What? Why on earth would you want to do that for?"

She stared down at him. "If we find him we may be able to ask him our questions that were never able to be answered because of little information my mother had given to me or my aunt." She looked at him seriously.

Inuyasha stayed silent for a moment before groaning staring at her with a blank stare. "And how do you expect to find him? He could be anyway or even dead for that matter."

"We could ask anyone in the villages or anyone walking by if they have heard of my mother and a wizard that had helped her."

"Do you honestly think anyone will know anything about those two?"

Kagome stared sternly. "Do people in your village you were birthed from know of my mother?"

He flinched slightly before staring at her oddly. "Yeah but-"

"My mother was well known throughout the lands. So I'm sure people will know of her." She remarked hotly.

"Sure they may know things about your mother but I doubt they'll know much about the wizard that had helped her." Inuyasha pointed out doubtfully.

"Well we won't know until we find out." Kagome told him her gaze gleaming with determination. "I want to know more about this jewel but mainly I want to see if he'll be able to help you get your form back."

He jerked at the last thing she had said but snorting turning his head away from her. "Why would you want to bother yourself with something like that?"

"Simple, you're my friend Inuyasha."

His eyes went wide slightly before quickly turning his head to stare back at her. "And has your friend I want to help you with whatever problems you have no matter what they are or how challenging they are I just want to help you anyway I can."

His heart fluttered at her words but snorting glancing away from her as his cheeks turned pink. "So are you saying you want to find this wizard first before we go after Naraku?"

"I guess." She admitted sounding unsure of herself before saying firmly. "I mean he could be able to help us with Naraku as well."

She caught his attention. "We may need as much help as we can get."

Inuyasha narrowed his gaze. "I'm sure we can handle him on our own."

"We can't be so sure of that. He is a wizard after all we can't underestimate him. We must be prepared since if we aren't we could get creamed."

"With that attitude we will." He commented gruffly.

"I'm not saying I don't believe in our abilities I'm just saying we maybe have a better chance at defeating him if we can manage to get some help with destroying him once and for all." Kagome assured him truthfully.

The young prince groaned wonderingly taking in the words she had spoken.

* * *

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango threw her boned boomerang towards a demon and broke them in half.

Miroku tossed two scrolls at two of the demons and socked them. He sighed when he sensed that they were no more. "I think we got them all."

"Finally." He heard the demon slayer sigh out roughly appearing next to him. "That was the tenth fight we got into today."

"Which probably means more demons lie ahead." The monk responded with his gaze narrowed.

"Well guess we may actually get some excitement today." Sango said roughly.

Kirara watched the two before making a noise tossing her stare towards a grove of trees. Sango and Miroku heard her and looked at her.

"Kirara?" Sango said her name questionably. "Is something the matter?"

"Are there more demons?" Miroku questioned the cat demon preparing himself to fight.

Kirara made a gasping noise before rushing into the woods. "Kirara!" The demon slayer called out her name before chasing after her with Miroku following in pursuit.

"Kirara! What's wrong?" Sango called out to her. '_What's going on? Why is she suddenly acting like this?_'

'_Did she maybe catch onto something?_' Miroku pondered staring down the path with a serious gaze.

Kirara kept running until she came into a clearing which Sango and Miroku both noticed. Sango immediately appeared beside her. "Kirara?" She rubbed her fur. "Did you sense something?" She noticed that her cat friend was staring ahead of them, she followed the demon cat's gaze and gasped sharply. "What is this?"

Miroku gaped when he appeared on the other side of Kirara. It was a burned down hut with burned barrels on the side of it.

* * *

"Look!" Kagome pointed ahead of them. "Another village."

Inuyasha looked to see a medium sized village but looked very quiet which caused his insides to stir uneasily. He groaned at the feeling. '_I don't like the looks of this._'

The two walked towards the village. "So do we need to stop for anything?" Kagome questioned her dog friend.

"Do we?" He asked her not looking up at her.

"Well we really don't need any supplies." She answered before looking down at him catching his glance. "But we can use this time to ask them questions about my mother and that wizard."

Inuyasha sighed roughly. "Okay let's get this over with so we can keep going."

The young miko nodded in understanding and quickened her pace slightly when she noticed a group of villagers herded in a circle. She smiled. '_Let's see what these villagers know._'

"This is the thousandth time that demon has attacked our village!"

"Huh?" Kagome responded coming to a stop signaling Inuyasha to stop as they listened to the villagers.

A woman cried. "I can't believe this is happening! What did we do to deserve this?"

A man gently rubbed her shoulders. "Don't worry we'll take care of that demon and avenge your husband."

"But how? That demon is so huge how can we possibly defeat it?"

The man glared at him. "If we outnumber him-"

"Yeah we may be able to outnumber him but he's still stronger than us. We have no chance at defeating something like him."

"Well with that attitude we will lose!"

Kagome tilted her head before approaching a man in the back of the circle. "Excuse me sir?"  
The man heard her and turned to look at her. "Oh hello didn't notice we had a visitor."

"What's going on? Are you in some sort of trouble?" The young miko question him.

"Yeah." He responded narrowing his gaze slightly. "Just a day ago a demon had claimed his territory in the mountains."

"The mountains?" She repeated before looking over towards the mountains just beside the village.

"Yes and ever since he began living there our village as been terrorized by him loosing many of our people to him."

Kagome looked at him to find him fidgeting with anger clenching his fists. "I lost my wife to that creature." He glared at the ground. "I was hoping to avenge her but I have no clue of how I can possibly defeat him."

"But we must find some way!" A woman voiced in loudly catching their attention meeting her sad gaze. "We must do something before the demon can take anymore lives!"

Kagome groaned sadly. '_I can't ask them when they are like this._' "Well maybe we can help."

"What?" The two replied softly staring at her with amazed gazes.

"Huh?" Inuyasha said looking up at her.

"We've had experiences with demons so I'm sure we will be able to help you." She went on reassuringly.

"What!?" They heard a strong voiced man shout out grasping their attention. He narrowed his gaze as he moved through the crowd towards them. "How can a girl like you be any help to us?"

"I may look like a regular girl but I'm very skilled with fighting demons." The young miko told him wisely. "Since I've had to encounter many of them over the past few years."

The man in front of her groaned with uncertainty. "I really don't like the idea of sending a young girl out there. I don't want you to end up getting yourself killed."  
Kagome smiled appreciating his concern. "I appreciate your concern but trust me I know how to deal with demons."

The villagers just stared at her amazed with the girl's bravery while also fearing for the young girl's life. She just smiled turning her attention at Inuyasha. "Let's go Inuyasha."

Inuyasha stared at her before nodding before allowing her to lead him towards the mountains. '_I really don't think we should be doing this. We should be asking them about this wizard and getting to the castle not doing charity work._'

The villagers watched them leave.

"You really think we should leave this in the hands of a young girl and a dog?"

"I don't know that dog looked pretty big."

"What does that have to do with anything?"  
The leader of the group sighed. "Guess we have no choice but to trust that girl and believe in her."

* * *

Sango and Miroku moved around the area searching for any clues to what could have happened.

"Someone was definitely living here." Miroku called out to Sango grasping her attention. He tossed a stern stare over towards her after looking inside the barrels. "These barrels are full of apples and vegetables."

"I think so too." She agreed before bending down in front of a garden. "There's also a garden here." She touched one of the dead leaves. "Though it wasn't really taken cared of."

She stood up when she heard the young monk strolling over towards her. "What do you think happened?"

"Mmm." Miroku looked over at Kirara. "Kirara?" He caught the cat's attention as he moved up to her. "Was Inuyasha here?"  
The cat nodded. Sango gasped. "That's why she raced here." She looked around. "Then does that mean _**he**_ was the one that stayed here?"  
"Probably but I don't think he was here alone." Miroku voiced in moving around slightly glancing from one part of the lot to the other. "There's no way Inuyasha could have done this much in such a short amount of time."

"Yeah that's true." Sango agreed. "So then do you think maybe someone was holding him hostage or something?"  
The young monk looked at her. "I don't think so." He looked back towards the tiger's body, which Sango now noticed and gasped. "Or else why would there be remains of demons like _**they **_were the ones that had been attacked."

"Who can really know these days?" Sango reminded him as she strolled over towards one of the barrels and looked in.

"Yeah that's true." He responded.

Sango gasped immediately catching his attention. "What? What's wrong?"

She looked at him and pointed inside the barrel. "This barrel is full of medical herbs."

"Herbs?" He repeated before walking up beside her to indeed see herbs inside the wooden barrel.

"Maybe the person didn't hold him hostage if they have had a barrel of herbs here."

Miroku groaned staring in the barrel with uncertainty. He turned and walked back towards Kirara. "Kirara?"

The cat demon looked at him noticing him staring at her with sternness. "Do you still smell Inuyasha's scent?"  
The huge cat nodded and moved her head towards the path that Inuyasha and Kagome had taken which gave Miroku the signal to keep going.

He looked back at the demon slayer. "Let's keep going Sango." He looked down towards the path and narrowed his gaze. "I think we are getting closer."

* * *

"We should be getting close." Kagome informed her dog friend firmly.

Inuyasha grunted. "Yeah I can smell it."

"I take it from the cringing of your nose that it has an awful scent?"

He glanced up at her. "Yes he does."

Kagome couldn't help but chuckle, which caused the young prince to blush and look away from her.

But their small peaceful moment was interrupted when they heard loud stomps coming towards them. They gasped as the ground began to rumble from the impact.

"Looks like the demon is coming to greet us." The young prince grumbled out loudly.

* * *

The demon laughed wickedly as he marched towards the auras he had felt. "Yes! The miko has finally come." He smirked. "Which means it's time to claim what is rightfully mine!"

* * *

Kagome prepared her arrow ready to strike the demon down. Inuyasha glanced around straining his ears on his surroundings hoping to hear the demon before he could attack.

His ears perked up when he heard something crumbling from behind them. He jerked. '_Crap!_' He looked and gasped just in time to see a red arm shooting out of the ground aiming towards Kagome. "Kagome!" He yelled out.

He caught her attention just in time to see the arm. She yelped out a scream but Inuyasha immediately forced her on his back and jumped out of the way forcing the arm to grab dirt.

"Oh that was close." Kagome said in relief.

Inuyasha groaned not bothering to reply to her. "Huh?" He suddenly spoke up hearing something ripping through the air towards them. He looked to behind him and gaped when another red arm came shooting at them.

The young prince quickly jumped away. "Damn where did that one come from!"

"Inuyasha look out!"

He heard the young miko's warning and looked ahead of him only to yell in surprise when another red hand came at them. He dodged once again only to have another come at him and another and another.

"Damn just where the hell are all these arms coming from!" Inuyasha cursed out loudly as he kept dodging the red arms that came at him.

Kagome pulled an arrow back narrowing her gaze at her targets before shooting her arrows at each of them as they attempted to grab them while Inuyasha kept jumping from tree to tree still dodging the others.

'_This isn't getting us anywhere._' Kagome told herself before saying loudly to Inuyasha. "We need to find the real demon now or else these arms will keep coming at us!"

"I know that!" Inuyasha replied loudly keeping his attention on the path in front of him. '_But that's going to be hard considering we have arms coming at us completely out of nowhere!_'

Suddenly out of one of the trees a red arm burst through catching Kagome off guard and whacked her in the gut. Inuyasha heard her gasp out and released a sharp breath when Kagome fell off of his back.

"Kagome!" He yelled with fearful eyes before diving down after her. He managed to catch her on his back before she could hit the ground and he sighed in relief when he landed on the ground. He looked back at Kagome. "You alright?"  
Kagome coughed before tossing a stare at him with a smile. "Yeah I'm alright nothing to worry about."

He groaned relieved that she was pretty much fine.

"Heh you have nice reflexes mutt."

He snapped his attention towards the voice and immediately began growling when the devil like demon emerged from the shadows. "So you finally decide to show up huh!"

Kagome gaped at the sight of him. '_Oh wow! He is huge!_'

"Let's see if you can dodge this!" The devil demon shouted out before slamming down his arm cutting the ground in half forcing a huge red light to emerge from the cut.

Inuyasha quickly jumped up dodging the light before it could slice him in half. Unfortunately before he had the chance to react the devil demon came at him and punched him across the face jerking him sideways.

"Ah Inuyasha!" Kagome said loudly in concern. She looked at the demon before yelling as the demon threw nail bullets at them.

The two both yelled out in pain as the nails hit them. Inuyasha grunted angrily. "Damn him."

But before the young prince had the chance to attack the demon's hand turned root stems and grabbed him.

"AH!" Inuyasha yelped out as the demon pulled right from under Kagome.

"AH Inuyasha!" Kagome screeched out.

"Kagome!" He yelled out as he watched Kagome begin to fall. He struggled against the demon's hold. '_Damn it all! Even if I break free of him I won't make to her in time!_'

Kagome screamed but the demon grabbed her causing her to grunt. The demon laughed catching her attention. "Now I have you miko!"

A fearful noise left her throat. "What?" Inuyasha gaped out jerking slightly at the demon's remark. The devil demon grunted as he tossed the young prince a blank stare. "I have no use for you!"

He tossed the dog prince, the prince yelled and yelped out in pain when he smacked right into a tree.

Kagome gasped sharply and screeched out. "Inuyasha!"  
"Now miko," She released a sharp breath snapping her attention towards the demon. He smirked motioning his hand towards her. "I will take what is mine."

"No!" She yelled holding out her hands. "Get away from me!" Out of her hands came purple lightening bolts and spread onto the demon shocking him.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The demon yelled dropping Kagome.

She yelped once she hit the ground, she fidgeted as she sat up. "Why you little wench!" She gasped and looked up only to scream as his hand turned into root stems and trapped Kagome in some type of cage.

"You won't get away from me miko!" The demon snarled out glaring at her hatefully. The roots motioned to wrap around her forcing her to release a sharp breath. "You and that necklace will be mine priestess!"

"Over my dead body!" Suddenly something ripped their claws through the roots.

The demon yelled out in pain as Kagome gasped when Inuyasha landed in front of her. "Inuyasha!"  
The young prince fidgeted feeling the pain from the toss go through his body. Kagome noticed this and immediately felt guilt. "Oh no Inuyasha."

Inuyasha growled at the demon. "You touch that girl and I'll rip you to shreds!"

The devil demon scowled glaring at the young dog prince. "Stupid mutt!"

"Stupid demon!" Inuyasha shot back as he pounced towards him and managed to claw him right across the face.

"AH!" The demon yelped out before growling and whacked Inuyasha tossing him sideways.

He slammed into another tree forcing a painful yelp to escape his throat. Kagome jerked as she cried out. "Inuyasha!"

She groaned in anger as she tossed a hateful glare at the demon. She stood up straight and aimed an arrow at him. "You'll pay for that."

The demon noticed just in time to watch as she released the arrow and just when the arrow was about to hit the devil demon vanished. She gasped. "What!?"

Inuyasha grunted painfully raising his head just in time to see the demon disappear. '_Damn it now what?_' He looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of the demon before it was too late.

Kagome lowered her bow as, she too, began looking around hoping to find the devil demon. Suddenly a gush of wind flew pass her from behind her, her eyes went wide and began to turn her gaze around when something smacked her in the stomach.

She gasped out a breath Inuyasha jumped. "Kagome!" The young miko flew and slammed into the mountain wall before collapsing on the ground.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted stumbling as he got up and grunted out with his gaze narrowed. "Kagome!"

The young priestess twitched in pain as she began to get up on her hands and knees. Inuyasha looked with wide eyes in relief but heard the demon grunt. He tossed the demon a stare when the monster held out his hand as a dark red light appeared in the palm of his hand.

"Maybe the best way to retrieve that jewel from you is to eliminate you once and for all."

Inuyasha gasped sharply as the demon shot the beam towards a tree that had grown in the mountain wall on top of Kagome. He quickly sped up towards her his heart pounding with fear. "Kagome!"

Kagome heard him but before she could look at him she noticed that half of the tree above her was falling aiming right at her. She screamed and she knew she didn't have enough time to get out of the way and crouched herself into a little ball waiting for her death.

"GAH!" She heard a familiar yell above her and realized that nothing had slammed onto her. She opened her gaze and turned her gaze upward and gasped sharply. "Inuyasha!?"

There Inuyasha was hovering over her with the tree trunk slammed right on his back. He grunted twitching in pain from the sharp impact from the tree trying to keep the tree from smacking onto the young miko.

He groaned painfully opening one eye to meet her fearful surprised gaze. "What are you doing just staring me like that?" He then shouted. "Move!"

Kagome quickly moved knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to help her dog friend if she just sat there. She then quickly moved to the side of him and tried to remove the tree trunk from his back but unfortunately the tree was too heavy for her to remove.

Inuyasha took notice of her attempts and grunted out. "Don't worry about me!" He tossed a glare over towards the demon that still stood a few feet from them. "Take care of that damn demon!"

The young priestess grunted tossing him a determined glare. "Not until I get this tree off of you!" She pulled an arrow out of her little barrel on her back and stabbed the arrow into the bark.

The young prince grunted as he watched her. '_Kagome._'

Kagome narrowed her gaze at the tree trunk. '_Please jewel help me get this tree off of him!_'

The jewel responded by allowing it's blue light to emerge from her hands mixed up with her own aura and onto the arrow. The light spread onto the heavy wood and forced it to break it apart.

Once the tree was off of his back Inuyasha collapsed on the ground. Kagome gasped and turned to wrap her arms around his neck. "Inuyasha!"  
The only response she got from him was a painful groan she stared at him with guilt gleaming in her gaze. "Oh Inuyasha."

"Now it's your turn little miko." She heard the demon wickedly say imaging him smirking from behind her.

Kagome scowled softly tossing a glare back at the demon. "You'll regret that." She let go of her dog friend's neck and turned to stand up feeling her heart burn up with anger. "You will regret harming my only friend!" She aimed an arrow at him. "So now it's going to be your turn to feel pain!"  
"You just try it you little pipsqueak!" The devil demon challenged as he rushed towards her.

Kagome kept her stance aiming the arrow at the demon. '_Jewel help me defeat this creep!_' The blue light emerged once again mixing with her own aura and when the demon was at the right distance the young miko shot the arrow.

The arrow ripped through the air and the blue light forced the arrow to multiply. The demon gasped sharply. "What!?"

He didn't have the time to dodge either one of them as they all shot through him shocking him inside and out until his body to disintegrate.

Kagome sighed in relief dropping her bow before rushing back down towards the unconscious Inuyasha. "Inuyasha."

The only response she got was a groan, she looked at him with relieve with guilt still gleaming in her gaze. She hugged him. "I am so sorry Inuyasha." She tightened her grip around him. "For getting you into this mess."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

YAY! I finally got this chapter done and up! -Sighs- Now I feel a little accomplished. Took me a while to write this chapter considering I forgot most of it. But I hope this chapter was worth the wait, since hey, it's longer than the last one. Lol! Anyway in the next chapter Kagome's going to leave Inuyasha fearing she might cause him to get hurt once again. Will Inuyasha be able to find her while Sango and Miroku get further with their search for Inuyasha? Also Koga steps into the scene next chapter.

Now I don't know when I'll update again hopefully soon but I can't make too big of promises.

See ya next chapter!

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	9. we're in this together

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am soooooooooo sorry for the late update! I've been a bit distracted lately, what with it being break and all I've just been drifting to other things other stories, mainly my novel that I'm still working on. Though the novel is becoming a slow process. But anyway I'm really sorry and I hope this chapter makes up for it!

**Chapter 9: We're In This Together!**

"Help somebody!"  
The villagers immediately jumped and turned towards the desperate cry. Kagome came stumbling into the village attempting to carry her dog friend. They gasped at the sight of them but mainly at the young dog prince.

The young miko noticed their gazes and said desperately trying so hard not to cry. "Please…help me."  
The villagers quickly came to her aide by taking the unconscious prince off of her and escorted them to a hut.

"What happened child?" One of the village men asked Kagome with concern. "Why are you two…"  
Kagome smiled weakly. "That battle wasn't easy I can tell you that much."

The villagers gasped at her response and they all stared at her with wide unbelievable eyes. "Are you saying you two actually defeated that demon?"  
She nodded smiling with some pride. "Yes we did." She tilted her head reassuring them happily. "Now you all can leave in peace once again."

They continued to stare at the young woman with wide eyes they just couldn't believe this one young girl defeated a monster that large and that horrid.

"Well then we must reward you for your help."

She waved her hand reassuringly. "That won't be necessary." Her gaze softened. "We just need to take care of our wounds so if you would be considerate enough to give us some medical herbs…"

"Yes of course! And food! You two must be starving after fighting that evil creature."

Kagome couldn't help smile at their courtesy. "Thank you we would appreciate that very much."  
The villagers smiled happy that she finally accepted their hospitality. "Alright let's get these two in the doctor's hut."

As the people conversed with one another the young miko's gaze lowered to her dog friend and groaned regretfully. '_I am truly sorry Inuyasha._'

* * *

"Well looks like your friend is recovering nicely." The male doctor informed the young priestess as he finished examining the young prince.

Kagome sighed in great relief. "That's a relief."  
The doctor gave her a small smile before glancing at the sleeping prince. "But he will be out for a while. That surely was a lot of damage so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be out for a week."  
The young miko stared down at her friend. '_Well that would be true if he actually was a human. With him being a demon he'll be out for maybe three days tops._'

"How was the food?"

"Huh?" She responded meeting the doctor's gaze. She smiled suddenly. "It was great! It's the best food I've tasted in a while."

He smiled with pride he chuckled lightly. "Well we do have the best cooks in the land if I do say so myself."

Kagome returned the light chuckle. "But I'm quite impressed." Her smile faded as he went on. His gaze became serious while crossing his arms. "Actually we are all quite impressed that a pretty young girl like yourself and a dog were able to defeat a monster like that."

"Well like I mentioned before I've been experienced with fighting demons." She glanced at Inuyasha. "Same with my dog friend here." She looked back at him. "We travel a lot so we've encountered lots of demons on our travels."

"Guess it really shows that you two are experienced." The doctor nodded sounding very pleased and impressed. He smiled. "You two are really something."

Kagome smiled. "Thanks."

The man finally sighed and stood up. "Well I'll leave you and your dog friend alone. You two must be tired after having such a rough fight with that demon."  
The young miko nodded. "Yes thank you."

The doctor gave her one last smile before retreating to his room to sleep. Kagome sighed gazing back at Inuyasha and combed her fingers through his fur. Tears suddenly came to her eyes as the guilt in her rose while watching him breath and once in a while cringe in slight pain as he tried to change his position.

"Inuyasha…" Instantly she wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly, "I am sorry! I'm so sorry! It's because you were protecting me that you got hurt!" She buried her face into his furry neck. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Morning came the sun had risen over the horizon the villagers began moving around and began doing their normal routines and chores.

Inuyasha grunted jerking as he slowly slipped out of his unconsciousness. "Uhhh…" His eyelids slowly fluttered open. '_What…what happened?_' He winced as he lifted his head up from the floor and looked around. He didn't recognize the room he raised a brow. '_Where the hell am I?_'

"Oh I see you've finally awaken."

"Huh?" He turned his gaze to find the doctor smashing some herbs in a bowl. Inuyasha raised a brow at his presence. '_Who the hell is he?_'

The doctor smiled. "Though I find it really amazing that you've come too with that amount of damage."

His words suddenly clicked in the young prince's mind. '_Yeah that's right…Kagome and I fought off that huge demon…_' He gasped when Kagome came to mind. Inuyasha darted his gaze around not finding any glimpse of her.

Pure panic came over him and immediately stood up. '_Kagome!_' Inuyasha instantly winced in pain. '_D-Damn it!_'

The doctor's sigh caused his ears to perk up, the young prince raised his gaze to find the doctor approaching him. "Lay back down you're too injured to walk."

The young prince tossed him a determined angry glare. '_Like hell I'll listen to you!_' He opened his mouth but immediately shut it as something came across his mind. '_Damn it I should speak to him. If I want answers out of him I can't freak him out by talking._' He began sniffing around like a normal dog would, signaling the doctor he was looking for someone. '_This is totally stupid but I have to find out where Kagome is._'

He noticed the doctor tilting his head. "You looking for something?"

Inuyasha nodded and realization finally clicked inside the doctor's mind. He snapped his finger. "Oh!" He pointed at the dog prince. "You must be looking for you friend, that young woman?"  
The young prince quickly nodded with a desperate look. '_Yes! Where is she! I'm not picking up her scent anywhere in here!_'

The doctor sighed. "Sadly I don't know." That information made Inuyasha jerk his gaze wide. "She wasn't in here this morning and I asked around and no one had seen her."  
Inuyasha's gaze just went wide feeling his heart drop. '_What?_' He took a step back and jerked when he heard something crumble from underneath his foot. "Hm?" He looked down to find a piece of paper under his back leg.

He raised a brow oddly. '_What the…_' Using his back leg he slide it on the ground.

"What's the matter boy?"  
Inuyasha ignored the doctor as he laid back down and using his paw slide the paper more up so he could read it.

_Inuyasha,_

_I'm so glad that you are alright! Can't tell you how much of a relief that is. I'm sure you've noticed by now that I'm not around…I've decided to go off on my own to find the wizard. It'll probably be better for both of us if we go our separate ways for a while until I get this jewel thing situated. Don't worry I'm not going off to fight Naraku I know I'm not capable of fighting him on my own. So go to the Western Lands to fight off Naraku. I will team up with you later once I have found the wizard and figured out more about this jewel and how to get rid of it._

_Good luck! I hope to see you again!_

_Kagome_

"WHAT!?" Inuyasha roared out standing up abruptly. The doctor jumped not expecting this type of reaction from him.

"H-Hey…" The doctor began.

Inuyasha didn't him as he immediately turned and darted out the hut door. "Hey wait!" He heard the doctor shout as he raced out of the hut watching the young prince run down the dirt road.

The villagers screamed and yelped as the dog prince rushed through the town with such speed it made them stare with bewilder.

"Was that the dog that was with that young girl?"  
"It must be. He was the only huge dog that's ever been in this village."

The young prince scowled angrily continuing to ignore the villagers' conversations. '_Do you honestly think I will allow you to go off on your own! Not a chance!_' His gaze narrowed surprised with how anxious and angry he felt at the thought of her leaving. '_There's no way in hell I will let you go off on your own!_'

He noticed a crowd of people in front of him gathering around a shop he growled in annoyance and pounced up on one of the rooftops and jumped from roof to roof. The villagers gaped at the sight. The young prince kept jumping until he landed back on the ground at the edge of the village and continued to run down the dirt road.

The town folks blinked not believing what they just saw.

"That…surely is one strange dog."

"He sure is."

Inuyasha flinched when he caught the faint scent of Kagome. He just scowled. '_You're not getting away from me Kagome! There's no way you're leaving me behind!_'

* * *

Kagome sighed feeling her legs throb aching for her to stop and take a rest. '_Not yet. I need to get a few more miles in before resting._'

Inuyasha flashed into her mind and her heart sunk starting to regret her decision. But she shook her head narrowing her gaze with determination. '_Get a grip Kagome! You're going to see him again! You just want to make sure you're not a walking target!_' She fiddled with the jewel. "Since with me wearing this stupid thing I'm a walking target for demons."

She gripped it tightly in her palm. '_I must get rid of this so Inuyasha doesn't get himself killed by fighting off all those demons!_'

* * *

Sango and Miroku gaped surprised when they arrived in a village.

"Inuyasha's scent led us here?" Sango questioned oddly.

"Apparently." She heard the young monk reply.

The two along with Kirara stepped more into the village observing the villagers as they walked pass doing their normal routines. "Inuyasha must have just passed through." The young demon slayer suggested not seeing any sightings of the young prince.

"Mostly likely but might as well ask around just to make sure." Miroku responded gazing down at her. "Since if he was attacked he could be out."

Sango tossed him a knowing glare. "I highly doubt that."

The monk chuckled at her response. "Yes I find it quite unlikely myself." He noticed a large man walking towards his hut with a large barrel of crops. "Oh excuse me good sir."

"Hm?" Makishi hummed at the sudden unfamiliar voice. He took notice of Miroku and Sango approaching him. "Oh visitors." He put down the barrel and crossed his arms. "What can I do for you people?"  
"Well my good sir my friend and I have been sent from the castle in the Western Lands…"

The large man jerked his gaze going wide. "T-The Western Lands? You mean Lord Inutashio's castle?"  
Sango nodded. "Yes that's right." She looked at him pleadingly. "You see we're searching for the young lord, Prince Inuyasha."

He gasped and looked at them panic struck. "Lord Inuyasha is missing!"  
The two groaned in dismay but nodded. "Yes and we must find him or the Western Lands and maybe the rest of the lands will be in great danger." Miroku told him honestly.

Makishi gulped at the thought of the great demon's land to be in trouble. "I…I'm sorry I haven't actually none of us have seen Lord Inuyasha."

Miroku and Sango released a frustrated groan sulking at the large man's information. The young monk gazed at Sango. "He must have passed through during the night."

"I guess that would make sense."

"Did I hear ye say Lord Inuyasha?"  
"Hm?" The two responded at the sudden voice. They turned to find Keade approaching them with a barrel of herbs.

"Why yes we did." Miroku responded turning to face her then asked hopefully. "By any chance did you see him?"  
"Hai I have." The old priestess answered with a slight nod.

"What?" Makishi darted his gaze towards the old woman. "Since when? I don't remember seeing him."

"Well that's because you weren't looking closely enough." Keade remarked. "Considering you were too busy harassing my niece to notice."

The large man flinched back. "What?"  
Miroku and Sango glanced at the two confused. '_Uh…okay…_' The demon slayer turned her gaze towards the old priestess. "Um…would you mind telling us where he went?"

"That I can." Keade responded softly. "Lord Inuyasha is traveling back to the Western Lands to take care of this Naraku person."  
The two gasped and gazed at one another. The young demon slayer grunted. "Figured he would. He's not the type to let someone like Naraku go."

The young monk nodded in agreement before looking back at the old priestess. "How was the young lord? Was he alright?"  
"Oh yes but he's not very recognizable."

Sango arched a brow questioning her oddly. "How can that be?"

Keade sighed softly before answering them. "It would seem that this Naraku transformed Lord Inuyasha into an actual dog."  
"What?" The two gaped out softly their going wide at the sudden information.

"What!?" They heard Makishi shout out. Their gazes darted towards the large man to find him with his gaze wide not believing what he was hearing. "You mean that huge mutt that was with that girl was _**Lord Inuyasha**_!"

Miroku and Sango stared at him with wide eyes. Keade just sighed and nodded. "Yes Makishi the dog that ye were cursing at was actually Lord Inuyasha himself."

"And he was protecting that…that demon magnet!"

The old priestess narrowed her gaze. "Ye do realize that Lord Inuyasha is a demon himself."

"Well she's an evil demon magnet."

"Well apparently Lord Inuyasha doesn't mind it."

"Uh excuse me?"

The two turned their gazes to Sango whom took a step in front of Miroku. "Mind telling us what's going on here?"

"Yes I would also like to know." Miroku agreed.

Keade answered. "Ye see Lord Inuyasha didn't come here on his own." She raised her head with pride. "He came into the village with my only niece, Kagome."

"Kagome?" The young demon slayer repeated.

She nodded. "My niece saw that the young lord was being chased by a herd of demons and he was already pretty weak from the transformation. So Kagome helped him and took care of him until he was well again."

Sango gasped as realization hit her. She darted her eyes up at the young monk. "Then that burned down hut that we saw…"  
"Yes." He responded seeing where she was going with that exclamation. His gaze narrowed. "That must have been Kagome's hut."

"Hai that it was." They heard Keade answer them sadly getting their attention. "But some of Naraku's demons attacked them and now the two have teamed up to fight Naraku."  
The demon slayer eyed the old woman. "Does…this Kagome know that he is actually the prince?"  
Keade shook her head. "No I just figured it out right when they left."

Miroku and Sango let out a rough sigh before looking at one another. "At least that would explain somethings."

"Yeah like how we only found his clothes and yet Kirara was able to pick up his scent." Sango added. But suddenly she smiled. "But it's a great relief to know that he's alright."  
The young monk returned the smile. "Most definitely." He turned his smile to Keade and bowed his head in respect. "We thank you for calming our nerves."  
The old priestess chuckled smiling. "Oh it was no problem at all." She titled her head. "I figured the people at the castle would be worried sick about him."  
"Got that right." The demon slayer replied smiling. "Kirara!" the huge cat came up to her side and the two quickly climbed on. "Thanks again!"

"Let's go Kirara!" She instructed the cat.

Kirara nodded before flying off. Keade smiled waving at them before gazing over at Makishi whom stared with wide eyes with his mouth slightly opened.

She slightly snorted shaking her head before retreating towards her hut.

* * *

"Well that stop was worth it." Sango said to Miroku happily as they rode in the sky.

"I'll say. So this whole time Inuyasha had been with that old priestess's niece." Miroku responded still processing all that data they were given.

The young demon slayer groaned sadly. "Yeah and Inuyasha got turned into a dog." Something suddenly came to her and raised a brow at the young monk. "Why on earth did Naraku turn Inuyasha into a dog?"  
Miroku shrugged. "I have no clue. Maybe he has some sort of plan for him later."

"Then we must hurry and find him before Naraku can accomplish that plan." Sango replied her gaze narrowed with determination.

* * *

"Well!?" Sesshoumaru questioned the shadow in the jewel his father held impatiently. "Have you found anything to get us out of here?"  
The shadow's head turned facing the eldest son. "_**It's really not that easy to find something to break this type of barrier. Considering it's made of pure miasma and a strong miasma by the looks of it.**_" His voice suddenly became serious. "_**I don't think I have enough power to break this.**_"  
Sesshoumaru scowled. "Then how the hell do you expect us to get out of here?"  
Inutashio tossed his son a glare. "Calm down Sesshoumaru. You being all hissy isn't going to help us."  
"Then kindly explain to me how the hell we are supposed to get out of here and kill that bastard before he completely takes over your lands?"

"_**Lord Sesshoumaru I didn't say I didn't have a way to get you out of there.**_" The eldest son gazed back at the shadow as he went on. "_**I just said I didn't have enough power to break it. But I do know of a way to break that barrier.**_"

"Then would you mind telling us?"

The shadow sighed. "_**You need the power of the jewel that Lady Kikyo and I created long ago. Since I'm sure it's still in Kikyo's care or in her child's care so it's most likely very pure.**_"  
"So we need completely pure energy to break this barrier?" Inutashio questioned the shadow assuming that was the case.

"_**Yes my lord that's exactly what I'm saying.**_"

"And how long will it take to find this jewel that's in this priestess's care?" Sesshoumaru continued to ask impatiently itching to kill the evil wizard that had taken control of his father's castle.

"_**I'm not sure she could be anywhere. But the secret soldiers are out searching for her so I'm sure we'll find her soon.**_"

* * *

Two male wolf demons panted as the rushed behind a waterfall with a group of wolves racing after them.

"We're back!" They announced to their clan grasping their attention.

"Any luck?" One of their comrades asked approaching them.

The two sighed roughly.

"No we searched all over the territory and haven't caught one scent or sightings of that priestess."  
"Then you need to search harder."  
They jerked immediately snapping their gazes towards their clan leader. "Koga!"

Koga approached them with his arms crossed. His men groaned. "But Koga we've searched as far as we can go and we still haven't found Lady Kikyo."  
The wolf demon narrowed his gaze. "Don't tell me you idiots are giving up already?"  
"What choice do we have? We can't find this broad so why keep searching?"

The wolf leader scowled. "And you honestly think I'm going to allow you to give up!" His me flinched at that. "We are going to continue to search for that priestess even if it takes all day and night. We will find that priestess and that jewel."

His men groaned angrily in dismay which only caused Koga to roll his gaze in annoyance. "Oh don't give me that you big babies." He glared at them. "Sir Tex and Lord Inutashio and his kingdom are counting on us to find that priestess and that jewel." His gaze shined with determination. "And I refuse to let them down."

He pointed out towards the waterfall opening. "Now all of you talk the wolves and continue searching for Lady Kikyo or try finding her family. Just find her!"

* * *

Inuyasha scowled as he continued to jump from tree to tree continuing to follow Kagome's scent. "Damn it! Just how far did she go?" '_Jeez amazing how one human can actually walk this fast!_'

But the one thing that was really freaking him out was how much her not being with him made him panic. How much it made his heart pound nervously.

Thoughts of demons attacking her and possibly maybe even are killing her right now made him run faster, made his heart pound faster filling up with pure panic.

This was all so strange to him; no woman had made him feel anything like this. No matter how beautiful or smart they were, but this girl was changing all that she's the only woman that is making him feel so many of this new strange emotions. Just how and when did this one woman become so important to him?

He narrowed his gaze forcing himself to stop thinking. '_This is not to be thinking such things!_' His pace quickened. '_I must find Kagome fast before something happens to her!_'

* * *

Kagome continued strolling down the path. '_Wonder if there is a village up ahead? That would be great if there was. I need to start asking about the wizard my mother worked with._' She glanced back at her arrow sack. '_And I need to restock I'm running dangerously low on arrows._'

Suddenly she heard something run pass some bushes that were right beside her. She jerked back darting her gaze towards the bushes.

"What was that?" She watched the bushes only to have them not move. The young miko sighed shaking her head. "It probably was nothing." She began walking again. "I'm just being paranoid."  
Another ruffle was heard causing her to jerk with her bow held out and her hand itching towards her arrows. "Come out whatever you are!"

Nothing came out which caused her to lower her guard. She sighed roughly. "I don't have time to fool around." Kagome walked away. "I need to get some more miles in."  
Growls suddenly reached her ears causing her to come to a complete halt. She glanced over her shoulder and gasped whirling around to find five black wolf demons emerging from the forest. All of them were growling and hissing at her glaring at her with angry hungry eyes.

Kagome groaned in distaste. "Great just what I need. A couple of wolf demons looking for their next meal." Her gaze narrowed quickly grabbing an arrow and aiming the arrow at them. "Sorry to break it to you, but I won't be _**your**_ next meal!"

The wolves only growled as they inched towards her apparently not threatened by her. Kagome noticed and began to feel a bit uneasy but kept her stare hard allowing her bravery to take control. "Don't find me a threat do you?" She tightened her grip on her bow ready to shoot. "Well get ready because I will be!"  
Just when she was about to shoot a growl emerged from behind her she quickly turned just in time to yelp and jump to the side when another black wolf demon pounced towards her. "Where the hell did you come from!" She darted her gaze only to have another set of five black wolf demons.

"Oh hell!" She cursed roughly. '_Well at least the jewel isn't causing this to happen._' She shook her head and immediately got her bow and arrow ready. Just when another wolf pounced towards her Kagome released her arrow, however the wolf took notice of it and quickly dodged and continued his way towards the miko.

She yelped and quickly used her bow –which circled with her purple and the jewel's blue aura- and whacked the wolf shocking him as he was tossed back.

The wolves growled and hissed at her angrily before they all charged towards her. She gasped sharply and thinking quick calling back the jewel's power while combining it with her own and whirled around creating a huge bright light. The light caused the wolves to howl out in pain and turn away shutting their eyes.

The miko took that chance to run for it since she knew if she wanted to fight them she would have to be come distance away from them if she wanted to shoot at them. Once the light cleared the wolves sniffed her out and raced after her.

Kagome panted and groaned when she heard them howl signaling her that they were on her tail. '_I have to think of something fast or else I'm dog food!_'

* * *

"Huh?" Inuyasha responded immediately coming to halt on a branch. A bright blue and purple light had come into his view.

"Whoa that surely is a bright light." He tilted his head recognizing the colored lights. '_Where have I seen those type of lights before?_'

He gasped when it suddenly came to him. "Kagome!" The young prince pounced his way through the trees towards the light.

* * *

"Hm?" Koga hummed as the bright light caught his eye. He looked towards the light. "What's that?"

"Huh?" His two friends responded looking over at him. "What's what?"

The wolf demon scowled when a scent reached his nose. "Looks like the black wolves are causing trouble again."

"Really? And here I thought I was the only one whom smelled them."

Koga tossed a determined glare towards them. "Let's go check it out."

They nodded before quickly following him as they went to investigate the mysterious light.

* * *

Kagome continued to run through the woods with the wolves still on her tail and they were really getting dangerously close. The miko noticed and her gaze narrowed when she saw that she had a bit of an opening to shoot.

Quickly she grabbed an arrow and stumbled a bit while placing the arrow in her bow. '_This maybe my only chance!_' She then whirled around glaring at them shouting. "Please hit!"

The arrow was released and it hit the ground shooting out a bright blue light causing the wolves to howl in pain at the bright light.

'_Damn it! I don't think I got them!_' Kagome cursed. Her assumption was correct when out of the bright light came one of the wolf demons.

"AHH!" She screamed out quickly waving her bow hoping to whack the wolf away. Only he bit the bow and knocked her over. "AHHHH!"

* * *

Koga and Inuyasha jerked when they heard her scream.

"Speed it up guys!" Koga ordered his men quickening his pace. His gaze narrowed. "We have a woman in distress!"  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled out speeding up his pace making himself look like a bullet ripping through the woods. "Hang on!"

* * *

The wolves slowly circled around the two as Kagome slightly wrestled with the wolf demon. Kagome gazed up at the black wolf demon with fearful eyes grunting using practically all of her strength to keep him up. The wolf growled refusing to give up and chopped down on the bow breaking him in half.

The miko gasped out her eyes wide open. '_My bow!_' More fear came over when she realized that nothing was now in the way of the wolf. The wolf stared down at her and she could have sworn he was smirking at her. '_No._'

The wolf motioned towards her neck and she screamed. "NOOOO!"  
Suddenly a loud growly roar was heard making the wolves jump as something white slammed against the black wolf hovering over Kagome. The miko saw the scene and gasped sharply immediately turning on her side and gaped. "Inuyasha!?"  
Inuyasha had the wolf on the ground but the black wolf forced himself up by clawing towards the dog prince. The young prince jumped away making the wolf barely miss the dog demon. But Inuyasha came back at him with his own claw attempting to scratch him hissing and growling. The wolf then tackled him to the ground and began wrestling him.

Kagome watched with wide eyes, they looked like two lions fighting. Inuyasha brutally pushed the black wolf off of him gliding him on the ground. Once the wolf demon got up the young prince pounced on him digging his fangs into the wolf's neck knocking him to the ground.

'_What…what is Inuyasha doing here?_' The young miko thought to herself in awe not believing what she was seeing. '_I thought he would continue to go after Naraku. That's what I told him to do. I didn't want him to follow me!_'

She gasped suddenly when she heard growls coming up from behind her. Kagome glanced over her shoulder only to yelp sharply noticing the wolves slowly approaching her. Her gaze narrowed. "Oh no you don't!" She quickly motioned her hand towards her arrow sack only to grab air.

Kagome gasped sharply. "Oh…oh no." '_No…no! I can't be out! Not yet!_'

Inuyasha raised his gaze with the now dead black wolf neck in his mouth. His gaze narrowed when he saw the other wolves approaching the miko. '_Oh no they don't!_'

Using his paw Inuyasha –with the wolf's neck still in his mouth- he tossed the dead wolf towards his comrades. The wolves looked up only to have their dead comrade smack right into one of them knocking away from the young miko.

That action immediately caught the wolves' attention towards the dog demon only to jerk when they saw him standing over Kagome protectively snarling at them. His hair stood on end deadly furious with his gaze hard and angry ready to kill them if they made any sudden movements.

"Just try and get pass me." He hissed at them with a low dangerous growl.

The wolves growled in return slowly stepping towards them. "Oh you guys still have the courage to fight me?" The dog prince crouched down ready to pounce. "Well hey it's your funeral!"

At that moment Inuyasha charged towards the black wolves clawing every single one of them in half as they rushed up to him attempting to take him down.

Kagome shook her head snapping herself out of her trance. '_I…I better get out of here._' She slowly crawled away watching Inuyasha hoping he wouldn't notice. '_I'm sorry Inuyasha._' The miko quickly stood up turning motioning to run for it. '_But I can't afford to have you near me._'

"Hm?" The young prince noticed the sudden movement and scowled when he spotted Kagome leave. "Oh no you don't!" He jumped towards her.

Kagome yelped when Inuyasha landed right in front of her and slightly screamed when he tackled her to the ground. "OOF!" She gazed up only to flinch when she met her dog friend's angry glare. "Inuyasha." Suddenly her gaze narrowed and scolded him loudly. "What the heck was that for!? That was completely uncalled for!"

"Well how else was I suppose to get you to stop?" Inuyasha shot back at her gruffly. He leaned his head towards her his gaze meeting hers'. "And what makes you think I was going to let you run off on your own again?"  
Kagome gulped feeling her heart leap to her throat at the sudden closeness of his face. But finally got her voice back. "D-Didn't you get my letter?"  
"Yes I got your stupid letter and I think it's a bunch of bullshit!"

The miko jerked. "B-Bull-"

"What's the big deal Kagome! You said you and I were in this together!" He began scolding her reminding her of the things she had said. "What's with the sudden change?" His gaze narrowed. "Oh was that all a lie."

"No!" Kagome immediately replied sitting up on elbows with her gaze wide. "That wasn't a lie!"

"Then why did you suddenly decide to part with me!" Inuyasha continued to question roughly his gaze still narrowed on her.

The miko narrowed her gaze. "Apparently you didn't read my message too clearly. I stated the reason in that note you read!"

"Yeah but didn't you tell me that you would help me get my form back by looking for this wizard of yours'!"

Kagome flinched as he reminded her of that. "Do you honestly think I can defeat Naraku with the way I am now? I think not! Even though I hate to admit it but it's true!" Inuyasha went on loudly. "I need to get back to my true form before I go back to the Western Lands and defeat that bloody bastard once and for all. I won't be able to do that if I don't see that wizard!"

"But I'll only but you in more danger if you stay with me!" Kagome argued loudly pleadingly.

Inuyasha jerked now understanding the main reason for her leaving so suddenly. He grunted with a slight smirk. "Oh I see."

"Huh?"

His smirk faded. "Now I know why you truly left."  
"What?" The miko gaped out flinching her head back her gaze wide. She felt her heart pounding in her chest making her cheeks heat up.

"You left because you just don't want me to get involved in your little affairs because you're afraid I'll get killed, am I right?"  
Kagome fidgeted not believing he actually hit the mark. The young prince noticed her expression and smirked. "Yeah I can be pretty observant if I want too." His gaze suddenly narrowed his expression serious and firm. "Kagome, do you honestly think I will be easily taken down by those demons?"  
"But what about that demon-"

"That was one time!" He argued roughly not wanting to remember that. "And look how I turned out? Do I honestly look dead to you?"

"No." Kagome responded shaking her head. She was now sitting up staring at him with sad guilty eyes. "But Inuyasha you're the only true friend I've ever made in my life."  
Inuyasha's gaze went soft slightly as she went on. The miko lowered her gaze shutting them feeling her cheeks heat up more at her confession. "And I just couldn't bare it if you got killed all because you were protecting me!"  
The young prince watched her for a moment before sighing shaking his head. "Kagome." He gently bumped her head getting her to look at him. "I shouldn't have to remind you but I am not a weakling. I can handle anything those stupid demons throw at me. But the one thing I can't stand is leaving a woman alone!"

"Inuyasha I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" Kagome argued offensively.

Inuyasha just shook his head. "I'll give you credit for making it this far." He moved his head closer to her which caused them both to heat up. "But there will be demons out there whom will be out of your league and you'll only end up getting yourself killed if you fought them on your own!" His gaze narrowed slightly. "Especially when you are outnumbered and don't have any arrows left."

Kagome flinched and groaned shying her gaze away. Inuyasha groaned blankly at her reaction but lowered his gaze and sighed out. "Besides…"  
The miko glanced over at him not noticing his cheeks turning light pink as he continued. His gaze stayed on the ground. "I don't know what is about you but…I like you."  
She gasped feeling her heart skip a beat. "Inuyasha?"

He finally met her gaze but narrowed his eyes. "Sure I have other friends but you, Kagome, are a very important friend…" He then confessed loudly, "That I can't stand to lose!"  
Kagome jerked back finding her insides stirring hotly her heart feeling like it could fly right out of her chest.

"And it's not like you're forcing me to protect you!" Inuyasha went on. "I'm protecting you willingly because I owe you my life!"

Her heart suddenly sunk but allowed him to continue as he said shyly. "You saved me a bunch of times so the least I can do is help you and protect you." His gaze went hard. "And I'm doing it willingly I'm not forcing it and you're not forcing me too. I'm protecting you because I want to!" He then said with a low tone which made her shiver in pleasure. "And I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and I'm going to protect you no matter what. Since it has always been my duty to protect my closest friends."

Kagome smiled suddenly very warm and moved by his words and instinctively embraced him. "Thank you Inuyasha."  
Inuyasha jerked slightly not expecting this type of reaction from her. "I guess part of me needed to hear that. I had a feeling you were doing it willingly but I guess I wanted to give you a chance to decide if you wanted to continue staying with me. Since you seemed to be set and determined to go after Naraku."

"Are you implying that all this was a test?" He asked abruptly pulling back slightly to gaze down at her.

She gave him a small smile. "A little."

Inuyasha sighed roughly with his gaze closed shaking his head slightly. "Man you're one confusing woman."

"I know I even confuse myself." She admitted softly.

"So does this mean you won't run off anymore?"

"I don't know I might if things start getting too rough."

The young prince groaned roughly. "Then be prepared because I'll hunt you down until I find you again."  
Kagome couldn't help but chuckle at his response and instinctively just snuggled her cheek into his fur. Inuyasha's cheeks turned red surprised by her action but responded with wrapping his arm around her and gently glided her more towards him returning the embrace.

He truly had no idea what was coming over him. It was not like him to confess things like that he always kept things to himself no matter how he was feeling. But he felt desperate wanting her to stay with him and what was really freaking him out…was that everything he had confessed to her…was true. She had become a very important friend that he just couldn't bear to be without. He wanted to protect with everything he was and he just wanted to be there for her.

'_Just when did this all happen? When did I-_'

Ruffles were heard in the woods causing Inuyasha to snap out of his thoughts to gaze over towards the sound. A scent reached his nose which caused him to scowl.

Kagome heard the growl and felt the vibration in his chest, she looked up at him. "Inuyasha?"  
The young prince moved forwards forcing her to lay down on the ground as he stood over her. "What's wrong?" She continued to question gazing up at him.

Inuyasha continued to ignore her as he crouched down trying to hide Kagome from the wolves that were heading their way. "Looks like more wolves are coming."  
"What!?" The miko gaped out darting her eyes towards the direction he was glaring at.

His hair stood on end remembering the wolves that he had just killed off. '_No way in hell will I let them kill her!_'

"Whoa whoa hold it there mutt."

"Huh?" He suddenly responded suddenly recognizing the voice. '_Wait…I think I know that voice._'

Koga and his men suddenly emerged from the trees and bushes. Inuyasha gaped as Koga smirked at them. "I have no intention of harming you or the woman."

'_Koga!?_' His gaze narrowed slightly with slight confusion. '_What the hell is he doing here?_'

**END OF CHAPTER

* * *

  
**

YES! I finally finished a chapter for one of these stories! Again I truly apologize for the seriously long update! I promise I'll make up for it! I may actually get some chapters done since my computer got attacked by a virus the other night. So I'm stuck with using my laptop and my dad's computer to update stories and such. While we are fixing my computer I will use this time to work on my stories for this site and of course fictionpress and my novel.

Now the next story I'm going to try and update will be **Give Love a Chance**. Since I know a lot of you readers have been waiting for that to be updated for a while now.

Anyway hope to see you in the next chapter! In the next chapter will be basically about them talking with Koga and learning more about the wizard that they are looking for and Kagome and Inuyasha face another demon. And that's all I know for the moment.

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW ME!**


	10. HIATUS NOTICE!

**HIATUS NOTICE!!!**

Okay everyone from here on out all of my stories from fanfiction to fictionpress will be on hiatus until further notice. It's not because I have writer's block or anything, right now I'm working on my first novel called "_**Navigator**_" and lately that's been my main focus. I'm really close to getting it done, at least the story then once that's done I have some major editing to do for it. I really want to get this novel finally done so I can work on the next book for it. So again all the stories on fanfiction and fictionpress will be on pause until I finish the first novel. When my novel is done this notice will be deleted from the chapter name thing, then I'll try and update all the stories as much as I am able. I pray you all understand, I can only work on so many things at once, at least lately.

So again I pray you all understand my position and I hope to see you in the next chapters to come for the stories on fanfiction and fictionpress.


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